
Class _F'2l^J1/ 

Book XT. ^7 

GoEyiiglrtB?-- . 



COEmiGHT DEPOSm 



TALES 



AND 



TRADITIONS 



OF THE 




1 
JL i 



D 



-I 



H -( 




1661-1896. 



By JAMES SPRUNT, 



Entered according to Act of Congress in the year of i8g6, by James 
Sprunt, in the office of the Librarian of Congress, 
at Washington. 



WILMINGTON, N. C. 
LeGwin Brothers, Printers, 



1896. 



TO THE MEMORY 
OF 

GEORGE DAVIS, 

WHO, EVER UPHOLDING THE HONOR OF HIS NATIVE LAND, 
MODESTLY EXEMPLIFIED IN HIS LONG, EVENTFUL LIFE 

AND 

STAINLESS REPUTATION, 

THE IDEAL PATRIOT, JURIST, STATESMAN ; 

AND ABOVE ALL, 

THE NOBLE CHRISTIAN GENTLEMAN, 

THIS HUMBLE RECORD 

OF HIS BELOVED CAPE FEAR 

IS AFFECTIONATELY AND REVERENTLY INSCRIBED. 



o 
J) 

J 



PREFACE. 

T^HIS little guide book, prepared perhaps too hastily, 
*- was undertakea six weeks ago as a compliment to 
Captain John W. Harper, of the Steamer "Wilmington," 
by one who treasures the memories of the Lower Cape 
Fear, and who has tried to catch the vanishing lines 
of its history and traditions for the benefit of those 
who may not be unmindful of the annals of a brave 
and generous people. 

Wilmington, N. C, 1st May, 1896. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



Pagf; 

The Southport Steamer 9 

The First Steamboat on Cape Fear River 12 

Settlement of Wilmington 15 

Sanitary 16 

Cape Fear Steamboats 18 

Negro Head Point 20 

Hilton Park 23 

Market Dock and Ferry 24 

Colonial Governor's Residence 28 

Confederate States Cotton Press 30 

Historic Mansion 31 

United States Monitor Nantucket 32 

Old Ship Yard 33 

The Dram Tree 35 

Hospital Point 36 

Brunswick River, Mallory Creek and Clarendon Plantation 38 

Old Town Settlement 38 

Big Island 39 

Rice Birds 39 

First Navigators of the Cape Fear — King Watcoosa and his Daughters 40 

Cushing's Exploits 43 

Cushing's Daring Visit to Fort Anderson 46 

Carolina Beach 48 

Gander Hall 49 

Sedgeley Abbey 50 

First White Settlement 52 



TABLE OF CONTENTS— CONTINUED 



PAGE. 

Cape Fear Indians e^ 

Lilliput ^ c 

Kendal eg 

Orton 5j __ 

Colonial Governor Tryon's Palace—Scene of the First Outbreak of the 

Revolutionary War 5y 

Ruins of Brunswick y2 

Ruins of St. Philip's Church 73 

Colonial Ferry and Inn 75 

Confederate Fortifications -j-j 

Fort Anderson -,8 

A Colonial Fort 3q 

Fort Fisher __ g^ 

Description of Situation _ go 

Land Face of Fort Fisher g5 

Sea Face of Fort Fisher gg 

The Fort Fisher Fight- oo 

Craig's Landing q^ 

The Heroine of Confederate Point oS 



107 



Butler's Powder Ship 

The Rocks— Closure of the Inlet log 

Battery Lamb— Confederate Salt Works m 

Snow Marsh— Dredging Steamer "Cape Fear", 112 

Price's Creek Lighthouse Confederate States Signal Station 114 

Wilmington and Charleston Mail Boats 

Cape Fear Quarantine Station 

Southport— Governor Smith— Cape Fear Pilots 

Bald Head Pirates 

Fort Caswell 

Evacuation and Explosion of Fort Caswell 

War Department Records— Forts Johnston and Caswell 

Fort Johnston, North Carolina 



117 
119 
122 

125 

12S 
131 
134 
135 



TABLE OF CONTENTS— CONCLUDED. 

PAGE. 

Wild Pigeons — Wreck of Spanish Ship — Probable Murder — Treasure 

Trove 140 

Life Savers I43 

A Run to Sea i44 

Captain Fry and the Cuban War i45 

Cape Fear Privateers in the War of 1812 and 1S61 154 

Blockade Runners 162 

Maffitt's Experience 166 

Blockade Runner "Don" 184 

Pilots in a Storm 205 

Homeward Round 213 



Advertisements i to lxii 



'^^f^^^' 



The Southport Steamer. 

^Ji^HK steniuer '' AN'ilmiiiiiton " Is a model of nmiiiie 
nrc'hitecture, combining' spacions and comfortable ])as- 
senger accommodations with the greatest speed attained 
by steam craft on the Cape Fear river. Her clean decks 
and tidy saloons afford the bracing outside air, or the 
restful seclusion which invites repose. Ttie daily run to 
and from 8oTitliiX)rt is made in two hours, including all 
river landings ; and tlie object of this little book is to 
interest and amuse the traveller by a concise description 
of Wilmington business enterprise and local scener^^ 
contrasting the record of the present busy age with the 
history and traditions of long ago. 

As we approach the gangway of this stately steamer. 
We are impressed with the quiet of the scene. We miss, 
most gratefully, the noisy roar of es(;aping steam, the 
confusing shouts, the imprecations and jostlings of the 
professional baggage-smasher, and all the other dis- 
tasteful and offensive features of former days. We are 
promptly met by the Commander and owner, a dignified, 
stalwart specimen of the American sailor and gentleman, 
who receives us conrteously, and who welcomes ns with 



10 

miniistakable corcllality. His name is John SV . Harper, 
and lie is said to be the favorite skipper of North Caro- 
lina. When yon have made the ronnd trip in his charge 
yon will not donbt his title to that honorable distinction. 
A snccessfnl steamboat captain shonld be competent^ 
cool, cantions, patient, polite and amiable to the 
last degree ; with an infinite reserve stock of never 
failing good hnmor. These attributes are possessed by 
Captain Harper, to an nnnsnal extent, wdiicli combined 
with a large exjjerience, inspire confidence and in- 
sure safety. He has been running boats u}) and down 
the river for twenty- two years, and he has niade^ 
during that time, more than thirteen tliousand trips 
between Wilmington and Southport- — equal to fifteen 
trips around the world. He was the pioneer of the 
regular summer excursions to the Cape Fear seacoast^ 
by which thousands of weary people and sick babies 
from the uj) country and the city, oppressed with mid- 
summer heat, have been refreshed and strengthened by 
ocean breezes and salt water at a nominal expense. Ifc 
is a nuitter of fact that salt sea air will often do more 
good to a sick, puny child than any of the med- 
ical remedies in the pharmacopoeia. Many anxious,, 
worn-out mothers^ have had reason to bless Captain 
Harper as the means under Providence of restoring to' 
health their sick or feeble little ones. A beloved 



11 

physician lias often said that daily tiips Troni Wilming- 
ton to Southx)ort are even more beneficial to si(dv childi-en 
than a residence on the seashore. The gliding motion of 
the boat soothes them, the clear, fresh air of the river 
invigorates and strengthens them, and the entire freedom 
from dnst and grime which is so disagreeable and liuit- 
ful on railroad jonrneys brings gratefnl sensations of 
cleanliness and comfort to young and (dd alike. 

"How happy they 
Who from the toil and tumult of their lives 
Steal to look down where naueht but oceiin .stiive.s." ^ 



12 



■^\i-,^:t':.^Sr>?t?»-cn' 





The First Steamboat on the 
Cape Fear River. 

i^ET lis coiitrast tlie swifl steamer Wilminiiton with the 
lidiruloiis example of former days — let us turn back for 
three-quarters of a century, when the tow^n of Wilming- 
ton contained only a tenth of its present population, 
and I'Hcall an incident, related to the writer b}^ our ven- 
erable townsman. Col. J. G. Burr, which created the 



1 '> 

lo 

greatest excitement at the time, and whicli was the 
occasion of the wihlest exuberance of feeling among the 
usually staid inhabitants of the town — the arrival of 
the first steamboat in the Cape Fear River. A joint 
stock com])any had been formed for the purpose of 
having one built to })ly between Wilmington and Smith- 
ville or Wilmington and Payetteville. Captain Otway 
Burns, of Privateer "Snap Dragon" fame, during the 
war of 1812, was the contractor. The boat was built at 
Beaufort, where he resided. When the company was 
informed that the steamer was finished and ready for 
delivery, they despatched Captain Thomas N. Gautier, 
an old sea captain, and a wx)rthy citizen of the town, to 
take command and bring her to her destined port. 
Expectations were on tiptoe after the departure of the 
Captain ; a feverish excitement existed in the commu- 
nity, which daily increased, as nothing was heard from 
him for a time, owang to the irregularity of the mails ; 
l)ut early one morning this anxiety broke into the 
wildest enthusiasm wdien it was announced that the 
"Prometheus" was in the river and had turned the 
Dram Tree. Bells were rung, cannon fired, and the 
entire population, witliout regard to age, sex or color, 
thron£:ed the wharves to welcome her arrival. The tide 
was at the ebb, and the struggle between the advancing 
steamer and tlie lierce current was a desjjerate one; for 



u 

she panted fearfully, as tlion^b wind-blown and ex- 
hausted ; she could be seen in the distance, enveloped 
in smoke, and the scream of her high pressure engine 
reverberated through the woods, while she slowl}^ but 
surely crept along. As she neared Market Dock, where 
the steamer Wilmington is at present moored, the old 
Captain, gorgeously arrayed in brilliant uniform, with 
cocked hat and epaulettes, made his appearance near 
the engine room, in full view of the excited crowd, and 
applying his sx^eaking-trumpet, his symbol of authority, 
to his lips, bellowed to the engineer below, in a voice 
that sounded like the roar of some hoarse monster of 
the deep : " Give it to her, Snyder" ; and while Snyder 
gave her all the steam she could bear, the laboring 
"Prometheus" snorted by amid the cheers of the 
excited multirude. In those days the river traffic was 
sustained by sailing slooj)s and small schooners, with 
limited passenger accommodations and less comfort. 
The schedule time to Smith ville (now called Southport), 
was four hours, wind and weather })ermitting, and the 
fare was one dollar each way. 



15 

Settlement of VViSmin^ton. 

^BorT tlie year 1780, some five years after the town of 
Brunswick was established foizrteen miles h)wer down 
the rivei', a few settlers built their humble habitations 
on a bluff in the midst of the primeval forest now known 
as Dirkinson Hill, nearly opposite the junction of the 
Northeast and Northwest branches of the Cape Fear 
rivei', which was then known as the Clarendon river. 
Their i)ui'p()se was to hnd a safer harbor than the exposed 
roadstead of Brunswick, and to secure a larger share of 
the river ti'afiic from the up country, which was then 
very profitable. 

In a few months this hamlet increased to the propor- 
tion of a small village, withont order or regularity, 
which was named New Liverpool. 

In 1733 it was surveyed into town lots, althongh the 
inhabitants had no legal right to the land. 

In the same year John Watson obtained a Royal grant 
of 640 acres of land on the East side of the Northeast 
branch of the river called the Cape Fear, in which was 
inclnded the site of the village or town called New 
Liverpool, but latterly known as Newton. 

In 1739, through the influence of the Colonial Gov- 
ernor, Gabriel Johnston, the name was again changed to 



IB 

Wilmington, in honor of Spencer Conipton, Bnroll 
Wilmington, an intiuential English friend of the Gov- 
ernor. In 17()() King George 11. made the town a 
borough, with the right of sending a member to the 

Assembly. 

Arthnr Dobbs was then the Royal Governor, and he 
lived at Rnsselboro, which is now a part of Orton 
plantation. 

In 1763, George III. being King, additional rights were 
granted by the Crown, the corporate title being made 
"The Mayo]', Recorder and Aldermen of the Borongh 
of Wilmington.'' 

In 1776 the corporate name was changed to that of 
"The Commissioners of the Town of Wilmington"; 
and this name was continued for one hundred years. 
The present corporate name, '' The City of Wilmington," 
was acquired in the year 1866. 

Sanitary* 

Aktificial drainage has in recent years carried the 
storm water from the city into the tributary streams of 
the Cape Fear, and if maintained in proper condition, is 
well designed to effectually drain a large area which 
was formerly the most -unhealthy quarter of the settle^ 



17 

ment. As a result malarial fever lias greatly deerensed 
in the last twenty years, and it may be truly Naid, 
although stigmatized forty years ago as the sailor's 
grave, and shunned by the people of the up country as 
an unsafe place in which to tarry all night during tlie 
summer and autumn, it has become exceptionally healthy. 
As an evidence of this, the death-rate for several years 
past has been much smaller than in the surioiinding 
country; and compares favorably with the most favored 
towns of its size on the Atlantic coast — the annual death- 
rate being about seventeen to tlif* thousand. 

Drainage has not, and cannot, it is true, alter the 
malarial inlluence upon crews of vessels sleeping on the 
river in the months of July, August, September a.nd 
October, This standing menace to the prospeiity of oui- 
shipping, as evidenced by the scarcity of tonnage during 
these months, has been seriously considered for many 
years, and a remedy actually devised. The difficulty 
has been to impress the lesson of prevention, leained at 
such a cost, upon the interested parties. The State 
Board of Health has done much towards in<'uhating 
Important advice upon the subject. For many years it 
has been known, as well by the people as by the doctors, 
that the fevers occurring among the vessels in our tide- 
water streams were preventable in a marked degree. 



18 

Observaficns exteiidiii<2,' over a space of time marked by 
four or live generations demonstrated that the cause of 
sickness among sailors was due very Uirgely to sleeping: 
on boju'd of vessels in the Cape Fear river particularly. 
This fact was so Mrmly established in the ojnnion of 
merchants in Wilmington, that 120,000 was subscribed 
to build a hf)me for seamen, in which they might Mnd a 
safe iHtreat from the effluvia of the river^ and what is> 
not exactly pertinent to the present subject,, to escape- 
also the abominable effluvia of low sailor lodgings. In 
this building ample provision was made for more sailors 
than ever visit the port of Wilmington at one time^ and 
l)y tht- Christian benevolence of Capt, Gilbert Potter^ 
one of the oldest citizens of ouj* city, who had himself 
been a sea-captain,, a house of worship^ sui)plied by the 
yearly ministrations of a preacher, was provided, to 
throw ajouud these ''toilers of the sea'- a beneiicent 
ill tin en ce.. 

Cape Fear Steamboats. 

_____ - ■ ■ ^ ^ 

^Et onE railroads were so numerous and the means of 
transportation limited, the Cape Fear River Steamboat 
Company enjoyed a large share of public patronage. 
'I he merchandise for the merchants of Western North 
Caiolina, East Tennessee and poitionsof South Carolina., 



11) 

ireorgici and Virginia was brought to this port by vessels, 
ti'ansf erred to the river boats to Fayetteville, and then 
forwarded to destination b}^ the slow, tedious and expen- 
sive means of transportation by wagons. Paj^erteville 
in those days \vas a place of as much business and im- 
portance in a commercial point of view as any inland 
town in the country, and every citizen in the phice took 
pride in seeing the jjlace flourish and x)rosper. The 
merchants built steamboats and plank-roads, and in this 
way fostered the trade which from the position at the 
head of navigation w^as a natural outlet. But as soon 
as the railroad became the grand artery to receive and 
disperse everything as public and private interest 
directed, the river traffic decreased, and with its decline 
the plank-roads ceased to be profitable, and there was 
almost a total disappearance of the white-covered cara- 
vans that x)li<^t^ between the mountains and the Cape 
Fear country. 

The Worths, Lutterlohs, Orrells and others had regu- 
lar fleets on the Caj^e Fear. We now recall the steamers 
Rowan, Henrietta, Chatham, Gov. Graham, Flora Mc- 
Donald, A, P. Hurt and Gov. AVorth, commanded by 
captains Roderick McRae, A. P. Hurt, Sam Skinnei', 
A. H. Worth ; the steamers Brothers, James R. Giist, 
Douglass, J. T, Petteway and Scottish Cliief, all of 
whieh boats w^ere at times under tlie conimand <d' 



20 

that whole-souled, jovial Scotchman, "Uncle Johnnie 
Banks" ; the steamer Snn, Captain Rush; the steamer 
Enterprise, Captain Datns Jones ; the Fannie Lutterloh, 
Captain Stedman ; the Kate McLanrin, Captain Daily; 
the Black River, Captain Jesse Dicksey ; the John 
Dawson, Captain Lawton ; the Hattie Hart, Captain 
Peck ; and other steamers and captains we cannot now 
recall. In these later days there has been employed in 
the river trade the steamers Mnrcliison, the North State, 
the Cumberland, the Juniper, the Cape Pear, the Wave, 
the J. C. Stewart, the Prank Sessoms, commanded by 
captains Garrason, Smith, Green, AVorth, McLauchlin 
and the Robesons. 



Negro Head Point. 

^s the "Wilmington" lies at her wharf, near Market 
Dock, we see from her spacious upper deck Negro Head 
Point, which divides the waters of the Cape Pear into 
Northwest and Northeast branches. It is the Northern 
limit of the jurisdiction of the Board of Commissioners 
of Navigatiim and Pilotage, and its name is derived 
from a melancholy incident in the time of slavery. 

In the latter part of the year 1831, through the influ- 
ence of Northern emissaries, an insurrection of Negro 



21 

slaves occni'i'ed in Soutbampton, Virginia, which spread 
rapidly into this State, creating great and general 
excitement. 

A number of helpless white women and children fell 
victims to the madness of the blacks, which so infuria- 
ted the whites that a race war seemed inevitable. All 
the approaches to the town of Wilmington were heavily 
guarded by the militia, and two companies of United 
States troops, numbering 170 men, from Fortress Monroe, 
remained on duty here for several months. The up- 
rising was overcome and the leaders suffered death. 
Pour were hanged near (liblem Lodge, on Princess 
street ; several others were shot, and, according to the 
barbarous custom of those days, their heads, after decaj)- 
itation, were placed on poles in conspicuous places as a 
warning to others like minded. 

At the intersection of Market and Front streets, a few 
rods from the steamer's dock, stood the town market 
house, where the slave-trade was constantly carried on 
until 1863. 

We draw a veil over the sad scenes enacted there, but 
we recall the fact that it was not until after the slave- 
traders of the North had received full value of their 
human merchandise from their Southern brethren that 
our neighbors began to realize the enormity of the 
institution. 



22 

And yet our i)e()})le who were impoverislied by its 
downfall would not, it' they could, deprive the nei^io of 
his freedom. 

With reference to the introduction of slavery int() 
Carolina by the Colonial Governor, Yeamans, from Bar- 
badoes, in 1671, the late lamented George Davis said : 

'*This seems to be a simple announcement of a very 
commonplace fact ; but it was the little cloud no bigger 
than a man's hand. It w^as the most portentous event 
of all our early history. For he carried with him from 
Barbadoes his negro slaves ; and that was the first intro- 
duction of African slavery into Carolina. — (Bancroft, 
2,170; Rivers, 169.) 

" If, as he sat by the camp-fire in that lonely Southern 
wilderness, he could have gazed with prophetic vision 
down the vista of two hundred years, and seen the 
stormy and tragic end of that of which he was then so 
quietly inaugurating the beginning, must he not have 
exclaimed with Ophelia, as she beheld the wreck of her 
heart's young love : 

'• ' O, woe is me ! To have seen what I have seen, see 
what I see' " I 



2 








Hilton Park. 



^UST beyond Negro Head Point, on the Northeast 
branch, a beautiful wooded bluff may be seen. It is 
Hilton, named in honor of one of the three first explo- 
rers from Barbadoes who visited the Cape Fear in the 
year 1668, wdiich became famous in Revolutionary history 
as the home of Cornelius Harnett, a prominent patriot 
of this section and a conspicuous, noted personage of 
his day. Until a few years ago his house, a neat Colo- 
nial structure, embowered by noble oaks, and subse- 
quently owned by the Hill family, was our most inter- 



24 

pstiiig relic of KevolutioTiar}' times; but the estate^ 
passed into other hands, and this picturesque, historic 
home was demolished, to the shame of our people, who 
^vere offered the building, as a public gift, for the cost 
of its removal and preservation. 

'^ A perfect wonum, nobly pbinned," whose skill and 
virtues are of national reputation, and wdiose ancestors 
were always leaders on the Cape Fear, has ha])i)ily 
devised, as President of the Society of Colonial Dames, 
the means of phicing a public monument over the grave 
of this sturdy patriot whose dust long since mingled 
with its mother earth in old St. James' churcdiyard, ere 
his noble sacrifice of life to liberty was appropriately 
recognized. 

Mark et Dock and Ferry . 

^'liK old Market Dock, at which the •' Wilmington ^^ is 
moored, is worthy of passing notice. During the Kevo^ 
lutionary war, while the town of Wilmington was in 
possession of the British troops under Major Craig, an 
American soldier in ambush on Point Petre or Negro 
Head shot with a long-range rifle a number of British 
troopers standing at Market Dock. 

Also, more than a hundred years afterwards, when the 
Federal tr()o])s under Schofield and Terry reached the 



25 

Brunswick side of Market Bock IVrry on their way to 
Wilmington, the last stand of the Confederate troojjs 
was made near Market Dock ^ a detachment of light 
artillery having tired from this point upon the advancing 
Federals on the west side of the river and checked their 
progress. The Federals w^ere in overwhelming nand)ers, 
however, and the artillerists soon follow^ecl Bragg' s 
retreating forces before the invaders reached the tow^n. 
The Confederates had carefully removed from the 
west shore all boats and otlier means of transportation 
to the Wilmington side in order to retard the Federal 
advance. Consequently there was considerable delay 
in crossing the river, which vv^as at last overcome by a 
demented Wilmington woman, who secretly obtained a 
small boat and paddled it across to the Federals, by 
means of which other craft was soon floated, and the 
town for a second time invested by a hostile army. 

In the early morning of the 22d February, 1805, a 
Confederate officer in command of the last battalion of 
infantry to leave Wilmington when evacuated by the 
Southern troops, was leading his men along Fourth 
street on his way to rejoin General Hoke, who had 
passed up to the North East River the night previous. 
Saddened and wofully depressed with the thought of 
leaving all his loved ones to the mercy of enemies, he 



26 

called the next officer, and, giving him orders about 
the route to march, turned back from Boney Bridge to 
hurriedly bid adieu to all the dear ones. Passing down 
Eed Cross to Front, hurried visits were made to several 
friends, but on reaching the intersection of Market and 
Front streets, the proximity of the enemy was appa- 
rent, for there were gathered the Mayor and Aldermen 
of the city— John Dawson, W. S. Anderson, P. W. 
Fannino; and others of the citizens who had there met ta 
turn over the keys of the city to the captors. Around 
on every side were seen the results of the cannon- 
firing of the day previous, the window-panes in every 
house were shattered and artillery debris lay scattered 
around. Immediate passing events urg(^d a very prompt 
retreat, and the officer hurried to his father's house to 
say good-bye and to receive their loving blessings and 
wishes for safety. Hastening through this distressing 
scene, he began his journey to rejoin his C(uumand, 
accompanied as far as Boney Bridge by his sister. The 
streets of Pompeii or Herculaneum when buried beneath 
the lava of Vesuvius were no quieter than those of 
Wilmington. Not a soul was to be seen on the streets, 
not a window -blind but was closed. Apparently even 
the dogs were affected by the prevailing distress. The 
mournful walk was continued, and the officer, parting 



with his sister, eontiimed his inarch with feeling's easily 
to be imagined, and soon rejoined his command about 
five miles out. This lady subsequently said that this 
was the loneliest walk of her life-time. She met no 
one between Boney Bridge and her father's residence, 
(South of Market street on Second street. 



^t^ 



2S 




(Lord Cornwallis' Headquarters.) 



Colonial Governor's Residence. 

J\ FEW steps from the " AVilmington's " wharf is an 
unpretentious tobacconist's shop — a sjiiall brick build- 
lYiu- — which is said to have been t]ie residence of the 
celebrated Colonial Governor, Willi'uu Tryon, ^vho was 
ci(\selv identilied w^ith the Cape Fe:ir section of Revo- 



29 




(Confederate General's Headquarters.) 

lutionary times, as will be seen further on. Higher 
up, on the corner of Third Street, may be seen the 
fine residence, which served as the headquarters of 
General Lord Corn wa His, commander of the British 
forces. It is now owned and occupied by Mrs. McKary. 
Immediately opposite stands an ancient residence of 
the DeRosset family, which was used throughout the 
civil war nearly a hundred years later as headquarters 
of the Confederate (renerals commanding this district. 



30 
Confederate States Cotton Press. 



^s we leave the wharf, on onr passage down the river, 
we see a conspicuous relic of an extraordinary era in 
the foreign trade of Wilmington. It is the leaning, 
but unbroken, brick chimney of the Confederate States 
Cotton Press established here in the year 1SG4. This 
press was the first in AA^ilmington, and had a capacity 
of 500 bales a day. The wharves and marsh adjoining 
to the warehouses were piled with enormous quantities 
of cotton bales belonging to the Confederate Govern- 
ment, and hither came all the swift blockade-runners 
for cargoes which were laden with great rapidity; 
work went on day and night, as many as twenty 
steamers loading together. The entire plant, tot^ether 
with several thousand bales of cotton was destroyed 
by fire by order of General Bragg upon his evacuation 
of this place on the evening of February 21st, 1865. 



* < — i^^ — » 



31 





Historic Mansion. 

(i/N the East bank at a considerable elevation above 
the river is an historic residence. It was built and 
occupied by the first Governor of North Carolina 
elected by the people, Edward B, Dudley, a statesman 
of liberal and patriotic views, of commanding presence 
and of most amiable manners. His name should ever 
be held in grateful remembrance by our people, for he 
was a leader in every public and private work for the 



32 

benefit and prosperity of Wilniinotoii, and contributed 
$25,000 towards the building of tlie Wihuington c^^ 
Weldon Eailroad, of wliich he was the first President, 
He was a man of generous impulses and stainless 
integrity, beloved and honored by rich and poor, and 
by white and black alike. He served as a member of 
tlie Twenty-first Congress, to which he was elected in 
the year 18-21), but declined re-election, because he said 
Congress was not the place for an honest man. 

In May, 1841), he entertained at this residence tlie 
distinguished Daniel Webster, who visited Wilmington 
as his guest. Mr. Webster was doubtless well cared 
for, as he wrote to a friend May 7th: " We are grandly 
Iodized in the Governor's mansion." 

In later vears Cardinal Gibbons, with an Archbishop 
and tw^elve bishops were entertained here by Mr. 
Kerchner, who owned the place at that ti^ne. 

The present owner and occupant has greatly enlarged 
and improved this property, at the foot of which may 
be seen the 

United States Monitor Nantucket, 



2\ battle-scarred survivor of the war between the 
States. This vessel took part in the bombarduient of 
Fort Sumtei' and in other conflicts at sea. Her turret 



88 

is indented by hostile shot and shell, nnd she ivS 
l-egarded as an interesting type of the old navy. The 
"' Nantncket " is in charge of the Wilmington Division 
of North Carolina Naval Reserves, and is used as the 
school ship of this fine organization. 



Old Ship.Yard. 



^HE first and only sailing ship bnilt at Wilmington 
was launched June 5th, 18;];3, by Mr. John K. 
Mcllhenny, and named after his two daughters, 
*' Eliza and Susan." The work was done by Mr. 
Josh Toomer, the grandfather of the present genera- 
tion of that name, under the direction of Mr. Mc- 
llhenny, at the saw mill of the latter upon the exact 
site of Kidder's mill. Mr. Mcllhenny owned n rice 
mill and a saw mill, both of which were al)Out the first 
erected at Wilmington. 

The "Eliza and Susan" was n full-rig ship of 316 
tons, built of the staunchest live oak, and of unusual 
strength. The oak came partly from Bald Head and 
partly from Lock wood's Polly » She was pine -planked 
and coppei-ed. It is not certain what cargo she took 
<out> but she came back loaded with salt. The com- 



34 



mander was Captain Hiintinoton, already in middle life 
at the time of the ship's first voyage. His son after- 
wards married Miss Brown of this place. 

Long afterwards, while the "Eliza and Susan" was 
engaged m the whaling trade of the Pacific, Captain 
Thomas F. Peck, who had gone from Wilmington to 
the land of gold with the " forty-niners," saw the 
familiar Wilmington ship at anchor in San Francisco 
bay. He was subsequently inyited on board and served 
with a glass of Cape Fear river water, then highly 
esteemed as pure and wholesome, which had been kept 
m one of the reserve tanks for more than twenty 



years. 



At right angles with the river and parallel with Queen 
street Mr. McHhenny cut a canal; at the head of this 
canal the ship was built. In launching her she stuck 
m the mud, and Colonel Mcllhenny remembers as a 
boy seeing his father fume most vigorously about- 
It. There were on the river about that time the 
•' Enterprise," the " Spray," the "John Walker" and 
the "Henrietta." Mr. Mcllhenny and Governor Dudley 
owned the " Enterprise," which was a very small boat 
and was used by them for towing the rice flats from' 
the different plantations. They lengthened her first- 
ten or twelve feet, then afterwards gave her an addi- 



35 

tional length cuid ran her as a passenger boat from 
Wihnington to Smithville. 

The "Spray" ran about 1853 or 1854, and was the 
fastest of them all. She was shaped something like a 
barrel, hooped up on the sides. She was the favorite 
steamboat plying between Wilmington and Smithville 
a few years before the war. 

Mr. Mcllhenny was awarded a contract by the Gov- 
ernment to furnish timber for building the United 
States man-of-war "Pennsylvania." No large ships 
were built here subsequently. Mr. B. W. Beery built 
some schooners and pilot boats, and afterwards Mr. 
Cassidy established the ship-yard now conducted by 
Captain S. W, Skinner, the only ,ship-yard in 
Wilminoton. 



The Dram Tree. 

i^ooKiNG ahead to the farthest point in view, we dis- 
tinguish an object, the passing of which was signalized 
in "ye olden time" by the popping of corks or by 
other demonstration of a convivial nature. It is an 
old cypress tree, moss -covered and battered by the 
storms of centuries. Like a grim sentinel, it stands to 
warn the out-going mariner that his voyage has begun, 



36 



mul to welconio the i„-co,ning stor.n-tossed sailor to 
he q-et harbor beyond. It. na.ne is si,„ifieant t 
I.S called the Dran, Tree, and :t has borne this name for 
more han a hundred years. For further particulars 
see Captain Harper. 



Hospital Point. 



<i(ilE now pass Hosp.t.i Point, whereon was placed a 
pest house dnrin.- the small-pox plague which followed 
Sherman s army. Many thousands of negro refugee. 

ell victims to this dread disease. At low water ma^ 
I'e seen he charred remains of several Confederate 
w.r vessels which composed Commodore Lynch's small 
and crippled fleet, and which were burned by the Con- 
ederates when Wilmington was evacuated after the 
tail of tort Pisber. 

This place is also known as Mount Tirzah and it 
IS tHe property of the Seamen's Friend Society af 
W ilm.ngton. In 1835 the citizens of the town held a 
meeting to establish the Wilmington Marine Hospital 
for the benefit of sick seamen in this port for whom no 
l>rovis,o„ „p to that time had been made. Subscriptions 
were raised, a society formed, and the Mount Tirzah 



37 

])roperty of 1^0 ncres and several houses standing 
thereon purchased from (Tovernor E. B. Dudley for one 
thousand dollars. 

The lU'incipal bnilding, a house of two stories, was 
converted into a hospital and managed by the Marine 
Hospital Society until April 24th, 1855, when this 
property and the other assets of the Society were trans- 
ferred to the Seamen's Friend Society, which undertook 
to carry on the work in conjunction with its own benevo- 
lent enterprise in the port of Wilmington. Later on 
the United States Grovernment established in the South- 
eastern part of the town a line marine hospital, which 
i:>rovided greatly imjjroved quarters and treatment for 
sick seamen, and which is now one of the most interest- 
ing features of the port of Wilmino'ton. 

The Mount Tirzah property is occasionally used by 
the City Grovernment for the isolation and treatment of 
cases of infectious diseases. 



^^ 



38 

Brunswick River— Mallory Creek- 
Clarendon Plantation. 

©N the West side is the mouth of Brunswick River, 
still partly obstructed by Confederate torpedoes. 

Mallory Creek is some distance lower down. Near it 
is "Clarendon," a fine rice plantation, originally owned 
by Marsden Campbell and afterwards tlie property of 
William Watters, Esq., a Cax)e Fear gentleman of the 
Old School, and a planter of large experience. It is now 
owned by Messrs. Fred Kidder and H. Walters. 



Old Town Settlement. 

iiPASSiNG Barnard's Creek on the East side, near whi(di 
in the olden time were several valuable plantations, we 
come to Town Creek, where 800 colonists from Barba- 
does, led by Sir John Yeamans, built a town in the year 
1665 and called it Charlestown in honor of the reigning 
sovereign of England, King Charles 11. 

Sir John had been a loyal adherent of the deposed 
King, and was rewarded upon the Restoration with the 
order of Knighthood and a royal grant of lands in 
Carolina. He is said to have been the lirst Biitish 



(hivi'vuor of (Jlarendon, winch extended original!}^ from 
Albemarle to St. Augustine, Florida. The settlement 
did not prosx^er. In a few years the colonists aban- 
doned it and removed, some to Charleston^ S. C, others 
to Albemarle, in the North. Not a white man remained, 
and the river land continued in possession of the Indians 
for many years after. 



Big Island -Rice Birds. 

^BoDT a mile below Old Town is Big Island, a tract of 
nearly 300 acres of rich alluvial soil, which the first 
voyagers to the Cape Fear in 1668 named Crane Island^ 
and which is charted by the United States Coast Survey 
as Campbell^ s Island. It was formerly a light-house 
station, but the light was discontinued during the late 
war and a battery erected in its place. There is a fortune 
in this island waiting for some enterprising truck farmer^ 
as the State Geologist says it contains some of the richest 
lands in the South, that will never need fertilizing. 
Millions of fat rice birds roost here at night after prey- 
ing upon the milky rice of the neighboring plantations 
during the day, It is estimated that these toothsome 
little pests devour 25 per cent, of all the rice made on 



40 

the Cape Fear. They appear every Fall together iVn the 
same day and depart during a single night when the rice 
gets too hard for them. The planters have never been 
able to protect their crops from the yearly ravages of 
these birds. Although a gang of boys and men are kept 
firing guns at them all day, a very small proportion of 
the immense droves is killed. For a dainty supper, a 
fat rice bird is perhaps the most delicious morsel that, 
ever tickled the palate of an epicure. 



First Navigators of the Cape Fear- 
King Watcoosa and His Daughters. 

^itE first reference made in history to Big Island is in 
the report of the Commissioners sent from Barbadoe^ 
in October, 1663^ to explore the river Cape Fear. 

After describing the voyage to the Cape, they say thaC 
the channel is on the East side by the Cape shore, and 
that it lies close aboard the Cape land, being 18 feet at 
high water in the shallowest place in the channel, just 
at the entrance, but that as soon as this shallow place iB 
passed, a half cable length inward, thirty and thirty^ 
five feet water is found, which continues that depth for 
twenty-one miles, when the river becomes shallower 



41 

until there is only twenty-feet depth running down to 
ten feet (where Wilmington now stands). 

These bold voyagers brought their vessel some dis- 
tance higher than Wilmington, and were much pleased 
with the land on the main river above Point Petre. 

They found many Indians living on their plantations 
of corn, which were also well stocked with fat cattle 
and hogs stolen from ihe Massachusetts settlers of 1660 
on the Cape opposite Orton Point. Game was very 
abundant, and fish was also plentiful- During an expe- 
dition higher up in a small boat, they killed four swan, 
ten geese, ten turkeys, forty ducks, thirty-six paraquitos 
and seventy plover. 

They were attacked by Indians once; a display of 
tire-arms afterwards compelled the peaceful recognition 
of the natives. And when the ship reached Crane 
Island (now Big Island) on the return, Sunday, 29th 
November, 1663, they met the first ruler of the ^'Cape 
Fear Country," the Indian Chief Watcoosa, who sold 
the river and land to the Barbadians, Anthony Long, 
William Hilton and Peter Fabian. 

A ludicrous incident which the virtuous Barbadians 
took very seriously occurred during their negotiations. 
The King, Watcoosa, accompanied by forty lusty war- 
riors, made a long speech to them, which, although 
unintelligible to the white men, was undoubtedly of a 



42 



peaceful nature, as he indicated by pantomime tliat he 
would cut off the heads of any of his peoj)le who 
attempted to injure them, and in testimony of Ms good- 
will, at the conclusion of his discour&e he presented to 
the Barbadian Captain two very handsome and proper 
young Indian women^ whom the voyagers were given to 
understand were the King's daughters. These guileless 
maidens of the Gape Fear, whom Hilton describes as 
the tallest and most beautiful women he ever saw, were 
not at all shy, but forced their way into the white men's 
boat and refused to leave it. Captain Hilton probably 
had a wife at home,, and the thought of presenting these 
two beautiful girls in their native costume to his better 
half in Barbadoes must have appalled the stout-hearted 
explorer w^ho had already faced so many lesser dangers^ 
He loaded them wath i3resents; he gallantly entreated 
them to call again, but they laughingly shook their 
heads, and pointing to the ship, indicated their purpose* 
to remain with him for better for worse. What was the 
poor man to do ? Worse still, thought the Captain, 
what will Mrs. Hilton do f He met the emergency as- 
little George Washington did not do. He presented ta 
the father a little hatchet, and fee told him a lie. He' 
promised to take the girls aboard in four days; but. 
aias! their nani'es do not appear later in the passenger- 



43 

list for the homeward voyage. It is said that for many 
years after, these disappointed maidens might be seen 
on the Cajje lands shading their eyes as they gazed 
towards the Southern horizon, looking in vain for the 
return of the perfidious Hilton, who wisely remained at 
home when the colonists came to settle on Old Town 
Creek. 



Cushing's Exploits, 



Opposite Big Island, an the East side, is Todd's Creek, 
known as also Mott's Greek, which was the scene of Lieut, 
William B. Gushing' s brave exploit June '28d, 1864. 
This gallant young naval officer perhaps accomplished 
n:iore by personal valor than any other individual «>n 
either side during the war. 

At half-past seven o'clock on the night of May 6th, 
1864, the Gonfederate iron-clad ^'Raleigh," whi/di was 
built at the foot of Ghurch street, in Wilmington, 
proceeded down the river in company with several other 
smaller boats composing the puny fieet of Gommodore 
Lynch^ and under the command of Lieut. J. Pembroke 
Jones, G. S, N., crossed the New Inlet bar and attacked 
Ihe blockading fieet. Th^^ Federals wejH taken bv 



44 

surprise, and after a feeble resistance took flight, the 
"Raleigh" having damaged one or two of the block- 
aders b}^ her well-directed fire. The Ram was too 
unwieldy for service at sea, however, and on the second 
day out Commodore Lynch ordered her back to the 
river. After crossing the Inlet she stuck on the Rip 
Shoal and sunk, where she still remains buried in the 
sand. Lieut. Gushing, then attached to one of the 
blockaders, the United States steamer " Monticello," 
with his usual zeal and fearlessness, volunteered to 
attempt the destruction of the "Raleigh," whose fate 
was unknown to the Federals. He also undertook a 
recounoissance of the defences of the Cape Fear River 
for the information of the United States Government, 
which was then x>reparing an expedition for the capture 
of Wilmington. Notwithstanding the warning of his 
superiors that he was almost certain to be captured or 
killed iu this adventure, he pjersisted in his scheme, and 
on the night of June 23d, 1864, left his vessel in the 
first cutter, accompanied by two subordinate officers and 
fifteen men, crossed the western bar and passed the forts 
and town of Smithville without discovery, but was very 
nearly run down by an outward-bound blockade-runner. 
He then proceeded fearlessly up the river, and with 
muffled oars steered his boat immediately under the guns 
of Fort Anderson. 



45 

As dishing attempted to leave Fort Anderson the 
moon came out from the chjuds and disclosed the party 
to tlie sentinels, who hailed and immediately opened 
lire. Tlie fort was roused and the confusion general. 
Gushing boldly pulled for the opposite banks and swiftly 
disappeared along the other shore. 

His next stopping-place was in this creek, up which 
he poled his boat until he came to the military road 
leading from Wilmington to Fort Fisher. Here he cut 
the telegraph wire and captured a courier from General 
\y luting with despatches for Colonel Lamb at Fort 
Fisher. He then put one of his officers (Howorth) in 
the Confederate's uniform and dispatched him in broad 
daylight to Wilmington for supplies. 

Howorth returned a few hours after with a liberal 
supply of chickens, eggs and butter, which he had 
bought without attracting any suspicion. Cushing 
then waited for darkness, and it is said went in 
person and also in the courier's clothes to Wilmington, 
and proceeded to his aunt's house, corner of Eighth 
and Market streets, where he j^eeped through the 
window-blinds and recognized his Confederate kinsfolk, 
who were of course not made aware of his presence. 

On the following day he made sketches of the fortifi- 
cations around Wilmington and cax^tured a boat-load of 
Confederates, from whom he learned the fate of the 



46 

" Raleigh," w iiicli he subsequently inspected in person* 
He next put his prisoners (six men) into a boat without 
oars or sails and sent them adrift to get home as best 
they could. Proceeding down the river, he carefully 
inspected the torpedo obstructions, and attempted the 
cai)ture of the Confederate guard-boat near New Inlet, 
Here he met with formidable resistance, four boats 
having pursued him, and he was obliged to dash into the 
breakers on Carolina shoals to escape a large force of 
Confederates. He reached the blockading squadron 
safely after an absence of two days and three nights. 

His subsequent destruction of the Confederate Earn 
''Albemarle" is doubtless one of the bravest examples 
of personal valour in militar}^ history. 



Cushing*s Daring Visit to 
Fort Anderson. 

^^T early dawn on Friday, February ITtli, 1865, the 
Federal fleet in the river began to bombard Fort Ander- 
son, while the troops under General Schotield attacked 
the land force and the lines extending westward. The 
bombardment was kept up all day long witli great fury, 
but the flrini>' ceased at sundown. 



4/ 

Al)(>ut eioiit o'clock that night the *'Entaw Band,'' 
attaclied to the 25th S. C. Regiment ((Udonel (J. fL 
Sinionton commanding) came into the Fort and gave a 
serenade complimentary to the commanding officer 
(Colonel John J. Hedrick, 40th N. C. Regiment) and his 
officers. Colonel John D. Taylor was requested by 
Colonel Hedrick to return thanks to the band, and while 
lie was doing so in a neat and appropriate speech, the 
officer of the day reported that a boat had been seen 
passing the Fort and going into the cove on the North 
side of the Fort. Soon after the speaking the boat w^as 
seen pulling out into the river. Captain E. S. Martin 
had seen the boat going up the river and ordered that 
the heavy shot be withdrawn from several guns and 
grape-shot substituted; and wdien the boat w^as seen 
going down the river he ordered the guns fired at it. 
The boat responded with small arms, and the crew 
escaped and notified those in the Fort of their safe 
arrival at the fleet by a single rocket that shot ujj into 
the air. and the Confederates heard nothing more of it 
at that time. 

On the 9th or 10th of March, 1865^ the same troops 
which were in the Fort the night above mentioned were 
at Kinston, N. C, resisting the advance of General Cox's 
commatid from New Berne to Goldsboro. The advance 
guard of General Cox was captured and one of the 



48 

prisoners gave a Confederate officer a copy of the " New 
York Herald," which contained an account of a visit 
made by Captain Cnshing to Fort Anderson. He stated 
that he commanded the boat above mentioned, and had 
passed into the cove above the Fort, landed and gone 
into the Fort while Colonel Taylor was spealdng. He 
had hidden himself under one of the guns (which was 
not in use) on the opposite side of the Fort, about 76 or 
100 feet from the speaker, and heard the rest of his 
speech, which was reported in the account of this visit. 
The officer (Captain Martin) into whose hands the 
"Herald" came, having heard the speech of Colonel 
Taylor, recognized the report as accurate in every 
particular. 

The account also described the escax)e of Captain 
Cushing from the Fort and of the boat from the lire of 
the Confederate guns, and his safe return to his vessel 
below the Fort. 



Carolina Beach. 



3^HE next point of interest on the East side is the wharf 
of the New Hanover Transit Company, from which there 
is a short railroad connection of about two miles to the 
favorite seaside resort, Carolina Beach. 



41) 

Tills place was loiii*" known to a few of onr jteople as 
the finest and safest beach on the Atlantic coast, but 
generation after generation of onr inhabitants lived and 
died without having seen the beautiful foaming breakeis 
cnrling over these hard while sands, whi(di extend for 
five miles along this exqnisite sliore. Before the 
Wilmington and Wrightsville turn|)ike was thought of, 
and long years prior to the building of the Seacoast 
Railroad, Captain Harper undertook to bring in the 
steam yacht "Passport" thousands of excursionists 
from Wilmington and the interior to th.e health-giving 
breakers at such a trifling expense, that the hund)lest 
and poorest might enjoy the pleasures of surf-bathing, 
which had hitherto been the exclusive privilege of 
the rich, unti) the number has increased to foity and 
lifty thousand passengers annually. 

The steamer ''Wilmington" makes four or hve trips 
daily, and the run occui:)ies on^ hour from Wilmington 
to the beach. 



Gander Hall. 

^[;l.EAR this landing may be seen a tine grove of old oaks 
which many years ago sheltered an attractive estate, still 
known as Gander Hall. It was owned in the yeai' 1830 



by Captain James Mcllhenny, of an honored and 
respected family on the Cape Fear. Captain Mcllhenny 
was the victim of a well-known joke which gave the 
place its peculiar name. An extraordinary trade 
demand for goose-feathers at high prices led him to 
purchase in the uj) country a flock of geese whicli he 
intended to use for breeding purposes. He counted the 
increase before it was hatched, and anticipated with 
satisfaction large profits from the sale of feathers. The 
Captain selected the geese in person, and as he wanted 
white feathers, was careful to accept only the white 
birds. After waiting an intolerable time for the laying 
season to begin, he consulted a goose expert^ and was 
informed, to his amazement^ that his geese were all 



ganders. 



Sedgeley Abbey. 



EAR Gander Hall are the ruins of " Sedgeley Abbey,^'' 
which was the grandest colonial residence of the Cape* 
Fear. Jt w^as of about the dimensions and appearance^ 
of the Grovernor Budley mansion in Wilmington, and 
was erected about 170 years ago by an English gentleman 
t)f wealth and refinement, named Maxwell, who owned 
all the land as far as Smith's Island. The house wa» 



51 

built of coqiiina, a rock made up of fragments of maiine 
shells slightly consolidated by natural })res8ure and 
infiltrated calcareous matter, of whicli there are still 
large formations there. The cellar alone remains, liaving 
been cut out of the solid rock. The South wing of the 
building was standing until abt)ut 2d years ago, when it 
was demolished and the material burned for fertilizeis 
by an unsentimentiil tenant, who might have gathered 
all the oyster-shells he desired which had been left by 
the Indians at a slightly greater distance, A beautiful 
avenue of oaks extended from the mansion on the East 
for 1,500 feet towards the ocean in fuli view, and a 
corduroy road, which may still be seen, was built through 
a bay and lined with trees to the i iver landing. Some 
weird traditions about the house and its lonely master 
have conie down through the neighborhood negroes, who 
still regard the place with superstitious awe. It is said 
that several attempts were made many years ago to find 
some gold alleged to be buried there, and although the 
times chosen were on bright, clear days, the sky became 
suddenly overcast, the wind moaned through the rootless 
walls, and cries and groans were distinctly heard 
by the treasure-hunters, who did not tarry for further 
investio^ation. 



52 
First White Settiement. 

^ FEW niilps below this interesting' inin may j^et be 
seen indications of the first wViire settlement on the Cape 
Fear in 1661 by the enterprising New Englanders from 
Massachusetts, who might have prospered, bnt their 
greed led them to destrnction. For a time they carried 
on a profitable and ap])arently peaceable intercourse 
witli the native Indians, but when they sent Indian 
(diildren North to be sold into slavery under the pretense 
of instructing them in learning and in the principles of 
tlie Christian religion, the red men were not slow to 
discern their treachery, and from that time, as Lawson 
says, "they never gave over till they had entirely rid 
themselves of the English by their bows and arrows." 

The New Englanders left much cattle behind them, 
which the Barbadians four years later found in the 
j)()ssession of the Indians along the Caj^e Fear. 

On this first attempt at a settlement on tlie Cape Fear 
river, Bryant, in his "Po^jular History of the United 
States," page 272, says: "There were probably few 
bays or rivers along the coast, from the Bay of Fundy 
to Florida, unexplored by the New Englanders where 
there was any promise of })rofitable trade with the 
Indians. The colonist followed the trader wherever 



53 

unclaimed lands were open to occuipation. These 
energetic })ioneers ext)lored the sounds and rivers South 
of Virginia in pursuit of Indian traflic, contrasted the 
salubrity of the climate and the fertility of the soil with 
that region of locks where they had made their homes, 
and where winter reigns for more than half the year. 
In 1()60 or 1661, a company of these men purchased of 
the natives and settled upon a tract of land at the mouth 
of the Cat)e Fear river. Their first purpose was 
apparently the raising of stock, as the country seemed 
peculiarly fitted to grazing, and they brought a number 
of neat cattle and swine to be allowed to feed at large 
under the care of herdsmen. But they aimed at 
something more than this nomadic occupation, and a 
company was formed, in which a number of adventurers 
in London were enlisted, to found a i^ermanent colony. 
Discouraged, however, either by the want of immediate 
success, or for want of time to carry out their x^lans, or 
for some less creditable reason, the settlement was soon 
abandoned." 



54 

Cape Fear Indians. 

%T 18 an interesting fact that the descendants of these 
fndians live in the same locality to the present day, and 
illustrate an unusual condition — an amalgamation of 
white, black and Indian races. The Indian character- 
istics, however, predominate. The men are thrifty, 
industrious and peaceable ; engaged principally in 
lishing during the shad season, and in cattle-raising 
upon the same range that was occupied two hundred 
years ago by their savage ancestors. 

Large mounds of oyster-shells, many pieces ot broken 
wicker pottery, arrow- heads, and other relics of the red 
men are still found on the peninsula below Carolina 
Beach. During the late w\ar these remains of an Indian 
settlement were frequently unearthed by the Confederates 
engaged upon the intrenchments around Port Fisher; 
and here are buried the last of the Corees, Cheraws and 
other small tribes occupying the land once inhabited by 
the powerful Hatteras Indians. They were allies of the 
Tuscaroras in 1711, and in an attack upon the English 
suffered defeat, and have now disappeared from the 
earth and their dialect is also forgotten. The Hatteras 
tribe numbered about 8,0(10 warriors when Raleigh's 
expedition landed on Roanoke Island in 1584, and when 



B5 

the En^i^lish made ])ernianent settlements in that vicinity 
eighty years later, they were ipdiiced to about lifteen 
bowmen. The Cape PVar Coree Indians told the English 
settlers of the Yeamans colony in 1669 that their lost 
kindred of the Roanoke colony, including Virginia Dare, 
the first white child born in America, had been adopted 
by the once powerful Hatteras tribe and had become 
amalgamated with the children of the wilderness. It 
is believed that tlie Croatans of this vicinity are 
descendants ot* that race. 

The Massachusetts settlers referred to the Cape Fear 
as the Charles river, which w^as apx)lied, as was also the 
original name, Caiolina, in honor of King Charles IX.- 
of France, during whose reign Admiral Coligny made 
some settlements of French Huguenots on the Floridfi 
coast, and built a fort which he called Charles Fort, on 
what Ib now the South Carolina coast. 



LHIipute 

jJ^EAi^LY opposite, surrounded by noble oaks^ are the 
ancient estfites of Lilliput and Kendal. 

The first record extant of Lilliptit plantation is in a 
patent from the Lords Proprietors, 6th November, 1725, 
recorded in the Secretary's office of North Carolina, to 



^56 

Eleazar Allen. Mr. Allen was born at or near Ohai-leston 
abont 1692. He married Sarah, eldest dan^^^hter of 
Colonel William Rhett, abont the year 1722. In 1780 
he was recommended for one of the conncil of North 
Carolina by Governor Bnrrington, and a^^jpointed to that 
office by the Crown; bnt he does not a[)pear to have 
assnmed the dnties until the 22d of November, 1735^ 
He was appointed in that year with Nathaniel Rice, 
Roger Moore and Cax)t. James Innes, a Commissioner 
to fix the boundary line between North and South 
Carolina. He was made Receiver General of the ]*rovince 
of North Carolina from 1735 to 1748. During that time 
he experienced, in common with all the other public 
treasurers, great difficulty in collecting the quit rents 
due the Crown, for which he was held personally 
responsible by the British Government, and for the 
security of which he ultimately pledged his entire 
estate, including Lilliput. 

An English gentleman who visited the Cape Fear in 
1784 with thirteen other travellers, made special mention 
of Mr. Allen's a^esidence, a beautiful brick house on 
Lilliput, adjoining Kendal, and also of his well-known 
hospitality. He says Mr. Allen was then speaker to the 
Commons, House of Assembly in the Province of South 
Carolina. Mr. Allen must have lived sumptuonsly and 



entertained lavislily, as among the items of personal 
propert}^ in liis estate made known at liis deatli, was 
twelve dozen cnt-glass table basins, now known as 
finger-bowls. 

On the death of Mr. Allen, 17th January, 1749, aged 
fifty-seven years, at Lillipnt, where he was buried, this 
X^lantation became the property and residence for a time 
of Sir Thomas Prankland. It was snbsequently sold to 
John Davis, Jr., in 1765. 

Sir Thomas Frankland was a grandson of P^rances, 
daughter of Oliver Cromwell, who, npon the death of 
his brother, Sir Charles Frankland, in 1765, sncceeded 
him as baronet. Sir Thomas was previons to that time 
an Admiral of the White in the British Navy, a i)OSt of 
great distinction. He married Snsan, daughter of 
William Rhett, Jr., of Charleston. They have numerous 
descendants now living in England. 

We find that, in 1789, Lillipnt was in possession of the 
well-know^n McRee family of this section, and here 
w^as born the distinguished medical practitioner and 
diagnostician, Dr. James Fergus McRee, Avho afterwards 
lived and died in Wilmington. 



^1 



^- 



58 

Kendal. 

^HE adjoining' plantation of Kendal was originally 
crwned by "King" Roger Moore, who bequeathed it Tth 
March, 1747, to his son, George Moore. ''King" Roger 
also devised to other heirs two hundred and fifty negro 
slaves. 

George Moore, of Moore Fields, as he was afterw^ards 
called, was remarkable for his great energy, good 
management and considerable wealth. The original 
proprietors of the Cape Fear plantaticms were men of 
extraordinary discernment and discretion. They first 
took up all the best land within easy access, laid out 
and built their plantation residence, and then provided 
themselves with a comfortable summer house on the 
Sound, Evidences of this method are still to be seen in 
the many Sound roads which converge into the old. 
thoi'oug'hfare at the east landing of the Brunswick ferry- 
near Big Sugar Loaf and opposite the site of old 
Brunswick. George Moore^s summer place was a tract 
on the north side of the creek at Masonboro, now owned 
by the McKoy family. He was twice married, and his 
wives, with remarkable fidelity and amazing fortitude, 
presented him every Spring with a new baby, until the 
number reached twenty-eight. An interesting relic of 



59 

this extraordinary family is preserved by Mr. Junius 
Davis. It is a book of Common Prayer, on the tiy-Ieaf 
of which is inscribed the names and dates of birth of tlie 
entire family of twenty-eight children. 

In common with the titled class in England, the Cape 
Fear planters held trade and trades-peoi)le in abhorrence, 
and kept themselves aloof from the commercial centres. 
They jjreferred to live on their plantations, and their 
social life betrayed a class distinction not at all in 
keeping with the democratic ideas of their descendants. 
In one respect, however, they greatly differed from tlie 
aristocracy of the Old Country— a generous and reiined 
hospitality being universal and proverbial, and this 
excellent trait is still a striking characteristic of their 
successors on the river to the present day. 

For personal reasons, to avoid the public parade of 
his numerous family through the town of Wilmington, 
U suited George Moore to cut a private road for his own 
use, from his plantation on Rocky Point to Masonboro 
Sound, by which his faithful wife and her remarkable 
progeny travelled on horseback in their yearly journeys 
from the country plantations to the seashcu^e. 

Mr, Moore's method of transporting liis iKuisehold 
effects was unique, by which he employed the services 
<G>f a large retinue of negro silaves: upon the head ot one 



60 

was placed a table ; upon another a mattress ; a third a 
ehair, and so on, until hfty or more bearers were in line, 
when the cavalcade proceeded on foot towards Mason- 
l)oro — an extraordinary and moving spectacle. 

When corn was wanted at the summer [dace, one 
hundred negro fellows would be started, each with a 
l)ushel bag on his head. There is, said the late Dr. 
John II. Hill, quite a deep ditch leading from some large 
bay swani[)S lying to the west of the George Moore road. 
It used to be called the Devil's Ditch, and there was some 
mystery and idle ti-adition as to why and how the ditch 
was cut there. It was doubtless made to drain the water 
from those bays, to tiood some lands cultivated in rice, 
which were too low 1,0 be drained for corn. 

Kendal and Lil]i[)ut have been owned and cultivated 
for years past by Mr, Fred. Kidder, a type of the 
Old School gt^ntleman, one of the most prominent and 
industrious [)lanters on the river, a worthy and honored 
successor (d' tlie distinguished settlers on the Cape Fear, 
described as gentlemen of birth and education, bred in 
the rehneiuent of polished society, and bringing with 
tlieiu ample fo-rtuiies,, gentle manners, and cultivated 
minds.. 



61 



:^ 




(Orton Plantation,) 



Orton. 



^MONG the venerable relics of Colonial days in North 
Carolina there is probably none richer in legendary lore, 
nor more worthy of historic distinction, than the old 
Colonial plantation of Orton on tlie Cape Fear. The name 
is doubtless taken from the old town or village of Orton, 
near Kendal, in th^ beautiful lake district of England, 



from whence thn ancestors of the Moore family on tlie 
Yeamans side may have come to Barbadoes ; tlie line of 
the Moore family being of Scotch Irish origin, as there 
is a Kendal Point and it is said an Orton plantation on 
that Island, which was the home of Sir John Yeamans, 
who afterwards settled npon the Cape Fear and was 
(xovei'nor of Clarendon. 

Orton plantation was owned originally by Manrice 
Moore, the grandson of Governor Sir John Yeamans, 
and the son of Governor James Moore, of South 
Carolina, who came with his brother, Colonel James 
Moore, to suppress the Tuscarora Indian outbreaks in 
the Province of North Carolina in 1711. From him it 
Xjassed to his brother, Roger Moore, known ever 
afterwards as ''King" Roger. He vv^as a man of lordly 
and distinguished bearing, and owned immense bodies 
of land in this part of the country, and was for many 
years a member of Governor Gabriel Johnston's Council. 
During his absence from home, in the early days of the 
settlement, his house at Orton was attacked, pillaged 
and burned by the Cree Indians, who lived on the Cape 
opposite the plantation. Some days afterwards "King'' 
Roger, with a small force of neighbors and servants, 
seeing the Indians at play and bathing in the river ueai" 
Big Sugar Loaf, marclied u[) the' river out of sight, 



63 

ci'ossed over, and taking- tlie savages by surprise, 
exterminated the whole tribe. His tomb, a brick mound, 
is still in a good state of yu'eservatiou in the old 
family burying-ground at Orton. The spot, whicdi lias 
nnfortunatel}^ in recent years been partly cleared, is 
described by the author of "Roanoke" as follows : 

"I found myself in one of those spots which nature herself seems to have 
consecrated for her most holy rites. There was not a shrub, nor a blade 
of grass, within this sacred temple; there the garish beams of the sun 
never penetrate, but even at noonday a deep, solemn twilight reigns. The 
oaks, whose multitudinous branches form a thick canopy above us, looked 
as if they had witnessed the flight of centuries; and from their limbs and 
trunks there streamed hoar}^ and luxuriant flakes of moss sweeping almost 
to the ground, and looking like elfin locks whitened by the frosts of a 
thousand years. Within this druid temple there are old brick vaults, 
without a name and without a date; and here, because, perhaps, nature 
herself seems to have formed a cemetery for her favorite child — here, be- 
neath one of these vaults and close by the banks of the old Cape 
Fear, are supposed to repose the ashes of Utopia. The scene and the 
recollections which it awakened threw me into a meditative mood, and 
seating myself on one of the vaults, and looking out on the broad but lovely 
expanse of waters before me, I remained, listening to the subdued murmur 
of the distant ocean." 

This fine jDroperty was sold about the year 1860, with 
the slaves ux^on it, for one hundred thousand dollars; 
but the purchase money was never paid, and the estate 
deteriorated for more than fifteen years from inattention 
and decay. In 1876, a young English gentleman of 
education and refinement, named Currer Richardson 



'9 



64 

Roundel (a nei)liew of Sir Roundel Palmer wlio 
afterwards became Lord Chancellor of Great Britain as 
Lord Selborne), came to Wilmina'ton evidently suffering 
with some mental disorder. He was induced by the 
agents to buy Or ton, which had been in the market for 
some time previous, and he undertook to reclaim it, but 
met with difRcnlties which he had not anticipated, and 
which so depressed him that he took his own life. The 
writer found him early on the morning of July 26th, 
1876, in his room at the hotel in Wilmington stripped 
to the w^aist, and lying upon the lloor in a i)ool of bloorl, 
the deadly pistol in one hand, the other hand pointing to 
a ragged hole in his forehead. He was dead. He was 
buried hj kind and gentle hands in Oakdale near 
Wilmington. 

The present beautiful residence, with its majestic 
columns and its white and glittering vestments, now 
occupied by Colonel K. M. Murchison, the proprietor, 
w^as built about the year 1725 by ''King" Roger Moore, 
of brick brought from England, and was afterwards 
enlarged and improved by the late Dr. Fred. J. Hill, a 
rice-planter, an intelligent gentleman, and a princely 
citizen, who was noted far and near for his elegant and 
refined hospitality. 

Colonel Murchison has brought the plantation up to 
its best production — about a hundred laborers are 



65 

employed and ninny exi)ensive permanent iniprovenients 
have been adoj^ted. He resides here with his family 
during the winter months, his home and principal 
business being in New York City. 

These ten thousand acres include a tine game i)reserve, 
which is greatly enjoyed by the Colonel and his friends, 
to whom the pleasures of the chase are its i)rincipal 
attraction. 

Born and reared on the upper Cape Fear of Scotch 
ancestors wdiose brain and brawn have ever infused new 
lifeandvigorthroughout the business world, ColonelK. M. 
Murchison is honored; for out of nothing but a stout 
heart, an honest x)urpose and a good name, he has built 
up a fortune and achieved a reputation for integrity and 
usefulness among men who only acknowledge such 
as leaders. 

He deserves well of Wilmington because he has given 
liberally of his means for the development of our trade 
and industries. When there was not a hotel in the j)lace 
worthy of the name, and when it was said that this lack 
barred a class of visitors hitherto unknown, but greatly 
to be desired by the community, he came forward and 
fearlessly invested a large amount in a first-class hotel, 
of which we should all be proud, although it has not been 
prox)erly appreciated. Were our citizens animated with 
a little of the public spirit of their forefathers, who gave 



66 

Miree hnndred and fifty thousand dollars to build and 
equip a Wilmington railroad, when the entire taxables 
were only three hundred thousand dollars^ '*The Orton" 
would always be filled to overflowing and such an 
enterprise receive its just reward. 

Colonel Murchison served throughout the war as 
Colonel of the 54th N, C. Troops, took part in the 
active Virginia campaigns^ and uj)on the conclusion of 
peace returned to New York^ where he has ever since 
been engaged in business. 



^2^5^- 







(Colonial Governor's Palace.) 

Colonial Governor Tryon's Palace- 
Scene of the First Outbreak of the 
Revolutionary War. 

^^BOUT half a mile to the South of Orton House, and 
within the boundary of the plantation, are the ruins of 
Cxovernor Tryon's residence, memorable in the history of 
the United States as the spot upon which the first 
overt act of violence occurred in the war of American 
Independence, and nearly eight years before the Boston 



Tea incident, of wliich so niucli has been made in 
Northern history ; while this Colonial ruin, the veritable 
cradle of American liberty, is probably unknown to 
nine-tenths of the people on the Cape Fear at the 
present day. 

This place, which has been eloquently referred to by 
two of the most distinguished sons of the Cape Fear, 
and direct descendants of Sir John Yeamans, the late 
Hon. George Davis and the Hon. A. M. Waddell, and 
which was known as Russelborough, was bought from 
William Moore, son and successor of "King" Roger, 
by Captain John Russell, Commander of His Britannic 
Majesty's sloop of war "Scorpion," who gave the tract 
of about fifty-five acres his own name. It subsequently 
passed into the possession of liis widow, who made a 
(jeed of trust, and the property ultimately again became 
a part of Orton plantation. It was sold March 31st, 
1758, by the executors of the estate of William Moore 
to the British Governor and Commander-in-Chief, Arthur 
Dobbs, who occupied it and who sold it or gave it to his 
son, Edward Bryce Dobbs, Captain io His Majesty's 
7th Regiment of Foot or Royal Fusileers, who conveyed 
it by deed dated February 12th, 1767, to His Excellency 
William Tryon, Governor, etc. It appears, however, 
tnat Governor Tryon occujDied this residence prior to the 
date of this^ deed, as- is shown by the fcdlowing official 



69 

correspondence in 1766 with reference to the uprising of 
the Cape Fear peoiile in opposition to the Stamp Act : 

" BRUNSWICK, 19th FEBRUARY, 1766, 

"Eleven at Night, 
" Sir:— 

" Between the hours of six and seven o'clock this evening, Mr. Geo. 
Moore and Mr. Cornelius Harnett waited on me at my house, and delivered 
to me a letter signed by three gentlemen. The inclosed is a copy of the 
original. I told Mr. Moore and Mr. Harnett that as I had no fears or ap- 
prehensions for my person or property, I wanted no guard, therefore desired 
the gentlemen might not come to give their protection where it was not 
necessary or required, and that I would send the gentlemen an answer in 
writing to-morrow morning, Mr. Moore and Mr. Harnett might stay about 
five or six minutes in my house. Instantly after their leaving me, I found my 
house surrounded with armed men to the number I estimate at one hundred 
and fifty. I had some altercation with some of the gentlemen, who 
informed me their business was to see Capt. Lobb, whom they were informed 
was at my house ; Captain Paine then desired me to give my word and 
honor whether Captain Lobb was in my house or not. I positively refused 
to make any such declaration, but as they had force in their hands I said 
they might break open my locks and force my doors. This, they declared, 
they had no intention of doing; just after this and other discourse, they got 
intelligence that Captain Lobb was not in my house. The majority of the 
men in arms then went to the town of Brunswick, and left a number of 
men to watch the avenues of my house, therefore think it doubtful if I can 
get this letter safely conveyed. I esteem it my duty, sir, to inform you, 
as Fort Johnston has but one officer, and five men in garrison, the Fort 
will stand in need of all the assistance the "Viper" and •' Diligence " 
sloops can give the commanding officer there, should any insult be offered 
to his Majesty's fort or stores, in which case it is my duty to request of you 
to rrpcl force with force, and take on board his Majesty's sloops so much of 



70 

his Majesty's ordnance, stores and ammunition, out of the said fort as you 
shall think necessary for the benefit of the service. 
"I am, sir, your most humble servant, 

(Signed) " WM. TRYON." 

" To the Commanding Officer, either of the Viper 
or Diligence Sloops of War." 

The writer, who frequently enjoys the old-time hospi- 
tality of Orton, had often inquired for the precise 
location of the ruins of Governor Tryon's Russelborongh 
residence, without success. But during a recent visit, 
and acting upon Colonel Waddell's reference to its site 
on the north of old Brunswick, the service of an aged 
negro who had lived continuously on the plantation for 
over seventy years was engaged, who, being questioned, 
could not remember ever having heard the name 
Russelborough, nor of Governor Dobbs, nor of Governor 
Tryon, nor of an avenue of trees in the locality 
described. He said he remembered, however, hearing 
when he was a boy about a man named "Governor 
Palace," who had lived in a great house between Orfoii 
and old Brunswick. 

We proceeded at once to the spot, which is approached 
through an old field, still known as the Old Palace Field, 
on the other side of which, on a bluff facing the east, 
and affording a fine view of the river, we found hidden 
in a dense undergrowth of timber the foundation walls 
of Tryon's residence. Tlie aged guide sliowed us fhe 



71 

well-worn ('arriage road of the Governor, and also his 
private path through the old garden to the river landing, 
a short distance below, on the south of which is a 
beautiful cove of white and shining sand, known, he 
said, in olden times, as the Governor's Cove. The stone 
foundation walls of the house are about two feet above 
the surface of the ground. Some sixty years ago the 
walls stood about twelve to fifteen feet high, but the 
material was unfortunately used by one of the proprietors 
for building purposes. 

The old servant pointed out a large x)ine tree near by, 
upon which he said had been carved in Colonial times 
the names of two distinguished persons buried beneath 
it, and which in his youthful days was regarded with 
much curiosity by visitors. The rude inscription has 
unhappily become almost obliterated by several growths 
of bark, and the strange, mysterious record is forever 
hidden by the hand of time. 

A careful excavation of this ruin would doubtless 
reveal some interesting and possibly valuable relics of 
Governor Tryon's household. Near the surface was^ 
found, while these lines were being written, some 
fragments of blue Dutch tiling, doubtless a part of the 
interior decorations ; also a number of peculiarly shaped 
bottles for the favorite sack of those days, which 
Palstaff called Sherris sack, of Xeres vintage^ now known 
as dry sherry. 



72 
Ruins of Brunswick, 

^BOUT a quarter of a mile distant towards the South, 
and yet within the limits of this time-honored estate of 
Orton, are the ruins of the old Colonial town of 
Brunswick, once the chief seaport and seat of govern- 
ment of the Province of North Carolina. Its public 
buildings and substantial houses have long ago crumbled 
to their foundations, which still remain. 

The daily hum of trafSc has long since ceased, and 
the busy feet that trod its now silent streets have 
mouldered into dust. 

" No more for them the blazing hearth shall burn. 
Nor bus}^ housewife ply her evening care, 
Nor children run to greet their sire's return, 
Or climb his knee the envied kiss to share." 

The glad voices of the village children, the merry ring 
of the blacksmith's anvil and the hearty yo-ho of the 
sailors in the bay have melted away into the silence of 
the dead, which is only broken by the hooting owl and 
the barking fox, or by the plaintive cry of the whippoor- 
will and the plunge of the osprey in the now peaceful 
waters of the Governor's Cove, while from across the 
narrow isthmus is heard the moaning of the lonely sea. 



73 
Ruins of St. Philip's Church. 



^(Xtri'iUN the boundaries of rhis forgotten town are the 
picturesqne ruins of St. Philip's Church, wliich was 
built by the citizens of Brunswick and principally by 
the landed gentry about the year 1740. In the year 
1751 Mr. Lewis Henry DeRosset^ a member of Cxoveinoi' 
Gabriel Johnston's Council and subsequently an 
expatriated Royalist, introduced a bill appropriating 
to the church of St. Philip at Brunswick and to St. 
James' Church at Wilmington, equally, a fund that was 
realized by the capture and destruction of a pirate 
vessel, which, with a squadron of Spanish privateers, 
had entered the river and plundered the plantations. 
A picture (''Ecce Homo"), captured from this pirate, is 
still preserved in the vestry-rooni of St. James' Church 
in Wilmington, 

St. Philip's Church was built of large l)rick brought 
from England. Its walls are nearly three feet thick 
and are solid and almost intact still, the roof and the 
lioor only having disappeared. Its dimensions are nearly 
as large as those of our modern churches, being 76 feet 
6 inches long, 53 feet 8 inches wide, standing walls 24 
feet 4 inches high. There are 11 windows, measuring 
15x7 feet, and 8 large doors. It must have possessed 



74 

much architectural beauty aud massive grandeur with 
its high pitched roof, its lofty doors and beautiful 
chancel windows, 

Uxion the fall of P\>rt Fisher, which is a few miles 
to the southeast of Orton, in 1865, the Federal troops 
visited the ruins of St, Philip's, and with pick-axes dug 
out the corner-stone, which had remained undisturbed 
for one hundred and twenty-five years, and which 
doubtless contained papers of great interest and value 
to our j)eople. It is a singular fact that during the 
terrific bombardment of Fort Anderson, which w^a^ 
erected on Orton, and which enclosed w^ith earthworks 
the ruins of St, Philip^s, while many of the tombs in the 
church-yard were shattered and broken to pieces by the 
storm of shot and shell, the walls escaped destruction ; 
as if the Power Above had shielded from annihilatioD 
the building wdiich had been dedicated to His service. 

This sanctuary has long been a neglected ruin, trees 
of a larger grow^th than the surrounding forest have 
grow^n up within its roofless w^alls, and where long years 
ago the earnest prayer and song of praise ascended up 
on high, a solemn stillness reigns, unbroken save by the 
distant murmur of the sea, which ever sings a requiem 
to the buried past. 

In concluding his most interestino- sketch of old 



75 

Brunswick, in "A Colonial Officer and His Times/' (he 
.graceful and ,i,nfted author, Colonel Alfred Moore 
Waddell, says : 

"Memorable for some of the most dramatic scenes in the early history 
•of North CaroHna as the region around Brunswick was (being the theatre 
of the f3.rst open armed resistance to the Stamp Act, and not far from the 
■spot where the first victory of the Revolution crowned the American arms 
at Moore's Creek Bridge, on the 27th of February, 1776), its historic interest 
Was perpetuated when, nearly a century afterwards, its tall pines trembled 
>and its sand-hills shook to the thunder of the most terrifi-c artillery fire 
that has ever occurred since the invention of gun-powder^ when Fort Fisher 
Was captured in -1865. Since then it -has again relapsed into its former 
sstate, and the bastions and traverses and parapets of the whilom Fort 
Anderson are now clad in the same exuberant robe of green with which 
.generous nature in that clim.e covers every neglected -spot. And so the old 
•and the new ruin stand side by side in mute attestation of the utter 
'emptiness of all human ambidon; while the Atlantic breeze sings gently 
amid the sighing pines, and the vines cling more closely to the old church 
Wall, and the lizard basks himself where the sunlight faJLs on a foi:gotten 
c-grave.." 



Colonial Ferry and Inn. 

^HE ruins of an inn and ferry-house attract attention 
^at old Brunswick landing. This ferry to the landing at 
Big Sngar Loaf on the opposite side of the river^ a 
distance of over two miles, must have been an exposed 
tfand dangerous passage during .stormy weather. It was 



76 

kept by Cornelius Harnett and connected with tlie only 
road to the northern part of the Province. This Colonial 
I'oad is still used at the present day, and may be seen at 
tlie old landing place near Big Sugar Loaf. 

It is interesting to recall the fact as stated by Doctor 
Brickell, a Dublin gentleman who visited this region in 
1737, that the people on the Cape Fear were invariably com- 
fortable and prosperous, and that they were also exceed- 
ingly hospitable and kindly. The planters cultivated 
rice, of which he says there were several sorts — '"some 
bearded, others not so; besides there was the white and 
led rice, the latter the better." Indian corn was largely 
produced ; fruits were plentiful ; game abundant ; cattle 
thrived and fattened in rich pastures; horse-racing, 
wrestling and foot-racing were favorite amusements. He 
savs the women were well featured^ brisk and charminsr 
in their conversation and as " finely shaped as any in 
the world;" that ^^they marry very young, some at 
thirteen and fourteen," and that '^'a spinster of twenty 
is reckoned a stale maid." The houses were full of 
healthy childi'en. 

Mr. riai'nett entertrdiied his patrons at the Inn with 
a liberal diet of beef, pork, venison, wild and tame 
fowl, fish of several delicate sorts, "roots" (vegetables,, 
probabiy), several kinds of sahids, good bread, butter^ 



77 

inilk, cheese, rice, Indian corn, hasty puddino', mm, 
brandy, cider, persimmon beer, cedai' beer, cMstenn or 
tanpanan, Indian tea, etc. 



Confederate Fortifications. 



_ _ ^E now approach the ruins of Fort Anderson, 
Battery Hoke, Camp Wyatt (so named for the tirst 
victim of the war, private Henry A. Wyatt, of the 
1st N. C. Heoiment, killed at the battle of Big Bethel), 
Battery Buchanan, Fort Fisher and Mound Battery, 
famous as the o^ateway of the Southern Confederacy, 
and for months the only key to the outside world from 
which was replenished its scant supplies of army 
stores. 

It has been well said by a prominent ex-officer of the 
late C. S. Navy that "the fall of Wilmmgton was the 
severest blow to the Confederate cause which it could 
receive from the loss of any port. It was far more 
injurious than the capture of Charleston, and but for 
the moral effect, even more hurtful than the evacuation 
of Richmond. With Wilmington and the Cape Fear 
open, the supplies that reached the Confederate armies 
wouhl have enabled tliem to maiiitain an unequal 






contest for years ; but with the fall of Fort Fisher, the 
constant stream of supplies was effectually cut off and 
the blockade made truly effective— not by the navy 
fieet, but by its captures on land." 

Fort Anderson. 

%^onr Anderson and Orton House, the latter used a^ 
the headquarters of Captain E. S» Martin, Chief of 
Ordnance, were the last Confederate positions evacu- 
ated upon the river, and they were abandoned to 
superior force a month after Fort Fisher fell. 

At nine o'clock on the evening of Sunday, January 
15th, 18G5, Fort Fisher, which had for years stub- 
bornly resisted the bombardments and assaults of 
the Federal fleet and forces, was overcome. On Monday 
and Monday night, Fort Holmes, on Smith's Island. 
Forts Caswell and Campbell, on Oak Island, and Fort 
Pender (Johnston), at Smith ville, were evacuated by" 
the Confederates. On Friday of the same week, the 
garrisons of these forts were assembled at Fort 
Anderson under command of General Hebert. He 
was soon relieved in command by General Johnson 
Haaood, who commanded until Fort Anderson wni^ 
evacuated. 



79 

After the capture of Fort Fisher, the Federals were 
employed in getting their monitors and gun -boats over 
the shoals called the Rip, near New Inlet, into the 
river. This was a tedious process. The heav}^ guns 
and turrets were slowly removed to lighten the draft, 
and these were afterwards replaced for an assault upon 
Fort Anderson, the last stronghold of the w^eary, 
half- starved, but devoted band of Southerners, who 
calmly awaited their death-blow. The Federal fleet 
then remained with General Terry's command in and 
about Fort Fisher in front of General Hoke's line, and 
made no demonstration until Friday, February 17th, 
1865, when Geneial Schofield's corps of 20,000 men 
having arrived, landed at Fisher, and were transferred 
to Smithville, Terry then attacked Hoke's line on the 
east side of the river, and Schofield moved up from 
Smithville and assaulted Fort Anderson from the rear, 
while the Federal fleet opened on the Fort from the 
river. 

The bombardment and land attack on Fort Anderson 
continued all day Frida5% Saturday and Saturday night, 
until Sunday morning, February 19th, about two 
o'clock, when the Fort was evacuated, and the 
Confederate troops fell back behind Town Creek, 
burnino; the brido^es over the creek. Schofield attacked 



80 

them Sunday and Monday. On Monday" afternoon, 
abont fonr o'clock, the Confederates retreated towards 
Wihnington, which they entered on Monday night, 
February 20th, 1865. 

Terry and Schofield followed on the 22d and took 
possession of Wilmington, the Confederates having 
moved towards North East river during the night of 
the 21st February. 

Sherman, spreading desolation in his track, had 
already reached Fayetteville and messengers were 
sent to him by Schofield on board the steam tug 
J. McB. Davidson, which was the hrst boat to ascend 
the Cape Fear after the fall of Wilmington ; she was 
commanded by Captain Marshall, and her Chief Engineer 
was Mr. Price, both of whom were subsequently lost 
at sea. 



A Colonial Fort. 

^ SHORT distance below Fort Anderson, on a bluff 
called Howe's Point, are the remains of a Colonial fort, 
and behind it the ruins of a residence, in which, tradi- 
tion says, was born in 1780 one of the greatest heroes of 
the Revolutionary War (General Robert Howe), the 
trusted and honored Lieutenant of Washington. He 



81 

was the son of Job Howe, an educated and wealthy 
planter on the Cape Fear, who left, in 1748, a jjlantation 
to each of his five sons. 

It is said that Robert's estate was on Old Town Creek, 
and that he resided there. It is also stated that he lived 
for a time at Kendal, and that on the 12th of May, 1776, 
the British Generals Cornwallis and Clinton landed with 
a troop of nine hundred men and ravaged General 
Howe's plantation. Mr. Reynolds, the present intelli- 
gent owner and occupant of the Howe place behind the 
Colonial fort, who took part in building Fort Anderson, 
says that his father and his grandfather informed him 
forty years ago that this fort was erected long before 
the War of the Revolution as a protection against 
buccaneers and pirates; that his great-grandfather lived 
with General Howe on this place during the war and 
took part in a defence of this fort against the British, 
who drove the Americans out of it; that the latter 
retreated to Liberty Pond, about a half mile in the rear, 
pursued by the British; that a stand was made at this 
pond, the Americans on the west and the enemy on the 
east side, and that the blood which flowed stained the 
margin of the beautiful sheet of water which still bears 
the name of Liberty Pond; and that the Americans 
ugam retreated as far as McKenzie^s Mill Dam, behind 



Kendal, where the British abandoned the pursuit and 
returned to tiieir ships of war. 

Since the foregoing was written, Mr. Reynolds' state- 
ment with reference to General Howe's residence hai§ 
been fully corroborated by the well-known Cape Fear 
skipper, Captain Sam Price, now eighty-six years old. 
He remembers distinctly, and has often visited the 
house known as General Howe's residence, which he 
says was a large three-story frame building on a stone 
or brick foundation, on the spot already described just 
below Old Brunswick, long and still known a& Howe^^ 
Point. 



■^^ 



83 

Fort Fisher. 

^OLONEL William Lamb, who was in command of 
Fort Fisher, in his admirable report of its defence, says 
that "the capture of Fort Fisher, N. C, on the 15th of 
January, 1865, was followed so quickly by tj^e final 
dissolution of the Southern Confederacy, that the great 
victory was not fully realized by the American people. 
The position commanded the last gateway between the 
Confederate States and the outside world. Its capture, 
with the resulting loss of all the Cape Fear river 
defences and of AVilmington, the great imyjorting depot 
of the South, effectually ended the blockade-running." 
General Lee, feeling the importance of the situation, 
sent word to Colonel Lamb "that Fort Fisher must be 
held or he could not subsist his army." 

~^ — — — — — * i « < *»^ ■ ■ - ■ — ■ ' ■ ■ "■■ 
Description of Situatio n. 

"^^ 'J^HE indentation of the Atlantic ocean in the Carolina 
€oast known as Onslow Bay, and the Cape Fear river, 
running south from Wilmington, form the peninsula 
known as Federal Point, which during the Civil War 
was called Confederate Point. Not quite seven miles 
north of the end of this ])eninsula stood a high -sand-hill 



i^\ 



r^mmm^w^" »"!(?■ 



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85 

called the " Sugar Loaf." Here there was an intrenched 
camp for the army of Wilmington under General Braxton 
Bragg, the Department Commander, that was hid from 
the sea by forest and sand-hills. From this intrenched 
camp the river bank, with a neighboring ridge of sand- 
dunes, formed a covered way for troops to within a 
hundred yards of the left salient of Fort Fisher. 
Between the road and the ocean beach was an arm of 
Masonboro Sound, and where it ended, three miles north 
of the fort, were occasional fresh -water swamps, generally 
wooded with scrub growth, and in many cases quite 
impassable. Along the ocean shore was an occasional 
battery formed from a natural sand-hill, behind which 
AVhitworth guns were carried from the fort to cover 
belated blockade-runners or to protect more unfortunate 
ones that had been chased ashore. 

"About half a mile north of the fort there was a rise 
in the plain, forming a hill some twenty feet above the 
tide on the river side, and on this was a redoubt com- 
manding the approach to the fort by the river road. 
Thus nature, assisted by some slight engineering work, 
had given a defence to Confederate Point which would 
have enabled an efficient commander at the intrenched 
camp, co-operating with the garrison of Fort Fisher, to 
have rendered the Point untenable for a largely superior 



86 

force at night when the covering fire of the Federal 
navy could not distinguish between friend and foe." 

The plans of Fort Fisher were Colonel Lamb's, and as 
the work progressed were approved by Generals French, 
Raines, Longstreet, Beauregard and Whiting. It was 
styled by Federal engineers 'Hhe Malakoff of the South." 
It was built solely with the view of resisting the fire of a 
fleet, and it stood uninjured, except as to armament, two 
of the fiercest bombardments the world has ever 
witnessed. The two faces to the works were 2,580 yards 
long. The land face was 682 yards long, and the sea 
face 1,898 yards long. 



The Land Face of Fort Fisher ^ 

^ -A^T the land face of Fort Fisher the peninsula was 
about half a mile wide. This face commenced about one 
hundred feet from the river with a half bastion, and 
extended with a heavy curtain to a full bastion on the 
ocean side, where it joined the sea face. The work was 
built to withstand the heaviest artillery fire. There was 
no moat with scarp and counterscarp, so essential for 
defense against storming parties, the shifting sands 
rendering its construction impossible with the material 
available. 



87 

The outer slope was twenty feet high and was sodded 
with marsh grass, which grew luxuriantly. The parapet 
was not less than twenty-five feet thick, with an inclina- 
tion of only one foot. The revetment was live feet nine 
inches high from the floor of the gun chambers, and 
these were some twelve feet or more from the interior 
plane. The guns were all mounted in barbette on 
Columbiad carriages, there being no casemated gun in 
the Fort, Between the gun chambers, containing one 
or two guns each, there were twenty heavy guns on the 
land face ; there were heavy traverses exceeding in size 
any known to engineers, to protect from an enfilading 
fire. They extended out some twelve feet or more in 
height above the parapet, running back thirty feet or 
more. The gun chambers were reached from the rear 
by steps. In each traverse was an alternate magazine 
or bomb-proof, the latter ventilated by an air chamber. 
The passage ways penetrated traverses in the interior 
of the work, forming additional bomb-j)roofs for the 
reliefs for the guns. 

As a defense against infantry, there was a system of 
sub-terra torpedoes extending across the peninsula, five 
to six hundred feet from the land-face, and so discon- 
nected that the explosion of one would not affect the 
others ; inside the torpedoes, about fifty feet from the 



88 

berme of the work, extending from river-bank to sea- 
shore, was a heavy palisade of sharpened logs nine feet 
high, pierced for musketry, and so laid out as to have 
an enfilading lire on the centre, where there was a 
redoubt guarding a sally-port, from which two Napoleons 
were'^run out as occasion required. At the river end of 
the palisade was a deep and muddy slough, across 
which was a bridge, the entrance of the river road into 
the port ; commanding this bridge was a Napoleon gun. 
There were three mortars in the rear of the land face. 



The Sea Face of Fort Fisher. 

^HE sea face for one hundred yards from the north* 
west bastion was of the same massive character as the 
land face. A crescent battery intended for four guns 
joined this, but it was converted into a hospital bomb- 
proof. In the rear a heavy curtain was thrown up to 
protect the chambers from fragments of shells. Prom 
the bomb '■proof a series of batteries extended for three- 
quarters of a mile along the sea, connected by an 
infantry curtain. These batteries had heavy traverses, 
but were not more than ten or twelve feet high to the 
top of the parapets, and were built for richochet 



tiring. On the line Wtis a bomb-proof electric battery 
connected with a system of submarine torpedoes. 
Farther along, where the channel ran close to the 
beach, inside the bar, a mound battery sixty feet high 
"was erected, wath two heavy guns which had a 
plunging fire on the channel ; this was connected with 
the battery north of it by a light curtain. Following 
the line of the works, it was over one mile from the 
mound to the northeast bastion at the angle of the sea 
•und land faces, and upon this line twenty -four heavy 
guns were mounted. From the mound for nearly one 
mile to the end of the Point, was a level sand -plain 
scarcely three feet above high tide, and much of it was 
submerged during gales. At the Point was Battery 
Buchanan, four guns in the shape of an ellipse com- 
manding the Inlet, its two 11 -inch guns covering the 
approach by land. An advanced redoubt with a 
24-pounder was added after the attack by the forces 
t3n Christmas, 18(14. A wharf for lars^e steamers was 
in close proximity to these works. Battery Buchanan 
'was a citadel to which an over-powered garrison might 
I'etreat and with proper transportation be safely carried 
•off at night, and to which re-inforcements could be sent 
'under the cover of darkness," 



m 

The Fort Fisher Fight. 

(4}ENEKAL Whiting, in his officinl rei>ort of the taking 
of Fort Fisher on the night of the 15th of January, 
1865, after an assault of unprecedented fury, both by 
sea and land, lasting from Friday morning until Sunday 
night, says : 

" On Thursday night the enemy's fleet was reported 
off the fort. On Friday morning the tieet opened very 
heavily. On Friday and Saturday, during the furious 
bombardment of the fort^ the enemy was allowed to 
land without molestation and to throw up a light line of 
field-works from Battery Ramseur to the river, thus 
securing his position from molestation and making the 
fate of Fort Fisher, under the circumstances, but a 
question of time. 

"On Sunday, the fire on the fort reached a pitch of 
fury to which no language can do justice. It was 
concentrated on the land face and front. In a short 
time nearly every gun was dismounted or disabled, and. 
the garrison suffered severely by the fire. At three 
o-'clock the enemy's land force, which had been gradually 
and slowly advancing, formed in two columns for assault. 
The garrison, during the fierce bombardment, was not 
able to stand to the parapets, and many of the re-inforce- 
ments were obliged to be kept a great distance from the 



«.B!i 11- 1 «fi>T •'MWiffiffirjsEiiiii'iiiaffiM'p'riiii 



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92 

fort. As the enemy slackened his tire to allow the 
assault to take place, the men hastily manned the 
ramparts and gallantly repulsed the right column of 
assault. A portion of the troops on the left had also 
repulsed the first rush to the left of the work. The 
greater portion of the garrison being, liowever, engaged 
on the right, and not being able to man the entire work, 
the enemy succeeded in making a lodgement on the left 
fiank, planting two of his regimental flags in the 
traverses. From this point we could not dislodge him, 
though we forced him to take down his flag from the fire 
of our most distant guns, our own traverses protecting 
him from such fire. From this time it was a succession 
of fighting from traverse to traverse and from line to 
line until nine o'clock at night, when we were over- 
powered and all resistance ceased. 

"The fall both of the General and the Colonel com- 
manding the fort — one about four and the other about 
four-tuirty o'clock, p. m., had a perceptible effect upon 
the men, and no doubt hastened greatly the result ; but 
we were overpowej'ed, and no skill or gallantry could 
have saved the i)lace after he effected a lodgement, 
except attack in the rear. The enemy's loss was very 
heavy, and so, also, was our own. Of the latter, as a 
prisoner, I have not been able to ascertain. 

"At nine o'clock, p. m., the gallant Major Reilly, wlio 



93 

had fought the fort after the fall of his superiors, 
reported the enemy in possession of the sally-port. 
The brave Captain Van Benthuysen, of marines, though 
himself badly wounded, with a squad of bis men, picked 
up the General and Colonel and endeavored to make 
way to Battery Buchanan, followed by Reilly with the 
remnant of the forces. On reaching there, it was found 
to be evacuated, by whose order and what authority, 1 
know not; no boats were there. Tlie garrison of Fort 
Fisher had been coolly abandoned to its fate. Thus fell 
Fort Fisher after three days battle unx>ararielled in tlie 
annals of the war. JSothing was left but to await the 
approach of the enemy, who took us about 10 p. m. 
The Heet surpassed its tremendous efforts in the previous 
attack. The fort has fallen in precisely tiie manner 
indicated so often by myself, and to which your attentiou 
has been so frequently called, and in the presence of the 
ample force provided by you to meet the contingency." 

Colonel Lamb, in his report, says he had half a mile 
of land face and one mile of sea face to defend wirli 
1,900 men. He knew every company present and ifs 
strength. This number included the killed, wounded 
and sick. 

To capture Fort Fisher, the enemy lost, by their own 
statement, 1,445 killed, wounded and missing. Nineteen 
hundred Confederates with 44 guns, contending against 



1J4 

10,000 men on shore and 600 heavy guns alioat, killing 
and wounding almost as many of the enemy as there 
were soldiers in the fort, and not surrendering until the 
last shot was exjDended. 

The garrison consisted of two companies of thn lorli 
North Carolina nnder Major Reilly; the 36th North 
Carolina, Colonel William Lamb, ten companies; four 
companies of the 40th North Carolina; Company D of 
the 1st North Carolina Artillery Battalion; Company C 
3d North Carolina Artillery Batallion; Company D 13th 
North Carolina Artillery Batallion, and the Naval 
Detachment under Captain Van Benthuysen. 

General Whiting had been assigned to no duty by 
G-eneral Bragg, although it was his right to have 
commanded the supporting troops. He deternjined to 
go to the fort and share its fate The Commander, 
Colonel Lamb, offered to relinquish the control, but 
General Whiting declined to take away the glory of the 
defense from him, but remained with him and fought as 
a volunteer. It is related that during the tight, when 
one hundred immense projectiles were being hurled per 
minute at the fort, General Whiting was seen "standing 
with folded arms, smiling upon a 400-pound shell, as it 
stood smoking and spinning like a billiard-ball on the 
sand not twenty feet away until it burst, and then moved 
quietly away." During the fight General Whiting s iw 



95 

Ihe Fedei'nl iln,ii,s planted on tlie traverses. Calling on 
llie troops to follow bin], they fought hand to liand with 
clubbed muskets^ and one traverse was taken. Just as 
he was climbing the othei', and had his hand upon the 
Federal llag to tear it down, he fell, receiving two 
Wounds. Colonel Lamb, a half-hour later, fell with a 
desperate wound through the hi}:). The troops fought 
on. Lamb, in the hospital, found voice enough, though 
faint unto death, to say: "I will not surrender" ; and 
Whiting, lying among the surgeons near by, responded^ 
"Lamb, if you die^ I will assume command, and I will 
never surrender." 

After the fort was captured and General Whiting w^as 
made prisoner, lie was taken to Fort Columbus, on 
Grovernors' Island, and there died, March 10th, 1865. 

The fearless defender of the last stand at Fishei% 
Major James Eeilly, remained not far from the scene 
of his exploits until his death, November 5th, 1894. 

Colonel William Lamb still survives, and since the 
war has resided continuously at his home In Norfolk^ 
Virginia, where he is engaged in business. 

Another prominent officer of the Cape Fear^ Colonel 
George Tait. a gallant Scotchman from Bladen county, 
who volunteered at the outbreak of the war and remained 
in active service to the end, is also living in 



96 

Norfolk. Always beloved and honored as a soldier 
and a gentleman, lie has in his declining years the 
comforts and respect achieved by an honorable, active 
and successful business life. 



*-s 



*^^^^^ 



^^^ 



07 




Residp:nce of thp: Commander of P'ort Fisher 

Craig's Landing. 

^^KOM the (leek of the steamer Wiiiiiiii.^'toii tlie watelifiil 
tourist may e.spy near Craig's Lanrliiig a weather-beaten 
little cottage of very humble aspect. This unpretentious 
building was the residence of the Corainandant of Fort 
Fisher and his little family during the war. It is 
worth preserving, because one of the sweetest little 
flowers of Confederate womanhood graced its rongh 
interior, and enconraged by her noble self -sacrificing 



98 

spirit the o-iJlarit defenders of tlie Lost Cause. She, 
tor), has crossed ovei' tlie river, and rests under the shade 
of the trees. Like a gentle exhalation she has passed 
a\vay, but the memory of lier devoted life of faith and 
fortitude, her loving and tender sym])athy for the sick 
and wounded, will live as long as the story of Fisher 
is told. 

B}^ the courtesy of our friend wdjo was her worthy 
husband, we are i>ermitted to copy the following sketch 
published some months ago in the "Southern Historical 
Papers'- of Richmond : 



The lieroine of Confederate Point, 

^'' Xn- the Fall of 1857, a lovely Puritan luaiden, still in 
her teens, was married in Grace Church, Providence, 
Rhode Island, to a Virg-inia youth, just passed hi& 
majority^ who brought her to his lumie in Norfolk, a 
typical ancestral homestead^ where, beside the 'white 
folk,' there w^as quite a colony of family servants, from 
the pickaninny, just able to crawl, to the old, gray- 
headed mammy wdio had nursed "ole Massa." She 
soon became enamored of her surroundings and charmed 
with the devotion of her colored maid, wliose sole duty 



it was to wait upon her young missis. When the Jolm 
Brown raid burst upon the South and her husband 
was ordered to Harper's Ferry, there was not a more 
indignant matron in all Virginia, and when at last 
secession came, the South did not contain a more 
enthusiastic little rebel. 

'*0n the 15th of May, 1862, a few days after the 
surrender of Norfolk to the Federals, by her father-in- 
law, then Mayor, amid the excitement attending a 
captured city, her son Willie was born. Gut off from 
her husband and subjected to the privations and 
annoyances incident to a subjugated community, her 
father insisted upon her coming with her children to his 
home in Providence; but, notwithstanding she w\as in a 
luxurious home, with all that parental love could do for 
her, she preferred to leave all these comforts to share 
with her husband the dangers and privations of tlie 
South. She vainly tried to x)ersuade Stanton, Secretary 
of War, to let her and her three children with a nurse 
return to the South; finally he consented to let her go 
by flag of truce from Washington to City Point, but 
without a nurse, and as she was unable to manage three 
little ones, she left the youngest with Ills grandparents, 
and with two others bravely set out for Dixie. The 
■generous outfit of every description which was prepared 
fcu' the journey and which was cin'ried to the ])lace of 



100 

einb-irkation, was ruthlessly oast aside by the inspectors 
on the wharf, and no tears or entreaties or offers of 
reward by the parents availed to pass anythino- save a 
scanty supply of clothing and other necessaries. Arriving 
in the South, the brave young mother refused the proffer 
of a beautiful home in Wilmington, the occupancy 
of the grand old mansion at "Orton," on the Cape Fear 
river, but insisted upon taking up her abode with her 
children and their colored nurse in the upper room of a 
pilot's house, where they lived until the soldiers of the 
garrison built her a cottage one mile north of Fort Fisher 
on the Atlantic beach. In both of these homes she was 
occasionally exposed to the shot and shell lired from 
blockaders at belated blockade-runners. 

'' It was a quaint abode, constructed in most primitive 
style, with three rooms around one big chimney, in 
which North Carolina pine-knots supplied heat and light 
on winter nights. This cottage became historic and 
was famed for the frugal but tempting meals which its 
charming hostess would prepare for her distinguished 
guests. Besides the many illustrious Confederate 
Army and Navy officers who were delighted to find 
this bit of sunshiny civilization on the wild sandy 
beach, ensconced among the sand-dunes and straggling 
pines and black-jack, many celebrated English naval 
officers enjoyed its hospitality under assumed names ; 



101 

Roberts, ^ifterwards the renowned Hobart Pasha, who 
commanded the Turkish navy ; Murray, now Adnnral 
Aynsley, long since retired, after havinoj been rapidly 
promoted for gallantry and meritorious services in the 
British navy; the brave but unfortunate Burgoyne, 
who went down in the British iron-clad "Captain'' in 
the Bay of Biscay ; and the chivalrous Hewitt, who 
won the Victoria Cross in the Crimea and was knighted 
for his services as Ambassador to King John of 
Abyssinia, and who, after commanding the Queen's 
yacht, died lamented as Admiral Hewitt. Besides 
these, there were many genial and gallant merchant 
captains, among them Halpin, who afterwards com- 
manded the "Great Eastern" while laying ocean 
cables ; and famous war correspondents, Hon. Francis 
C. Lawley, M. P., correspondent of the "London 
Times," and Frank Yizitelli, of the ' ' London Illustrated 
News," afterwards murdered in the Soudan. Nor must 
the handsome and plucky Tom Taylor be forgotten, 
the purser of the "Banshee" and the "Night Hawk," 
who, by his coolness and daring, escaped with a boat's 
crew from the hands of the Federals after capture off 
the fort, and who was endeared to the children as the 
"Santa Claus" of the war. 

"At first the little Confederate was satisfied with 
pork and potatoes, corn-bread and rye coffee, with 



102 

sorghuni sweetening, but after the blockade-riiniiers 
made her acquaintance the impoverished store-room 
was soon filled to overflowino-. notwithstandino' her 
heavy requisitions on it for the post hospital, the sick 
and wounded soldiers and sailors always being a subject 
of her tenderest solicitude, and often the hard-worked 
and poorly-fed colored hands blessed the little lady of 
the cottage for a tempting treat. 

"Full of stirring events were the two years passed 
in the cottage on Confederate Point. The drownino- of 
Mrs. Rose Greenough, the famous Confederate spy, off 
Fort Fisher, and the finding of her body, which was 
tenderly cared for, and the rescue from the waves, half 
dead, of Professor Holcombe and his restoration, were 
incidents never to be forgotten. Her fox-huntino- with 
horse and hounds, the narrow escapes of friendly 
vessels, the fights over blockade-runners driven ashore, 
the execution of deserters and the loss of an infant 
son, whose little spirit went out with the tide one 
sad summer night, all contributed to the reality of this 
romantic life, 

"When Porter's fleet appeared off Fort Fisher, 
December, 1864, it w^as storm-bound for several days, 
and the little family, with their household goods, were 
sent across the river to. "Orton," before Butler's 
powder-ship blew up. Aftei' the Cliristmas victory 



103 

over Porter nnd I'utler tlie little lioroiiio insisted iijioii 
eoming- bnek to her eottage, altliough lier ImsbaiKi 
had procured a home of refnge in Cumberland county. 
General Whiting protested against her running the 
risk, for on dark nights her husband could not leave 
the fort; but she said, 'if the firing became too hot, 
she would run behind the sand-hills as she had done 
before,' and come she would, 

"The licet re-appeared unexpectedly on the night of 
the 12th of January, 1865, It was a dark night, and 
when the lights of the fleet were reported, her husband 
sent a couriei* to the cottage to instruct hei* to pack up 
quickly and be prepared to leave with children and 
nurse as soon as he could come to bid them good-bye. 
The garrison barge with a trusted crew was stationed 
at Craig's Landing, near the cottage. After midnight, 
when all necessary orders were given for the coming- 
attack, the Colonel mounted his horse and rode to the 
cottao^e, but all was dark and silent. He found the 
messat^e had been delivered, but his brave wife had 
been so undisturbed by the news that she had fallen 
asleep and no preparations for a retreat had been made. 
Precious hours had been lost, and as the fleet would 
soon be shelling the beach and her husband have to 
return to the fort, he hurried them into the boat as 
soon as dressed, with only what could be gathered up 



104 

hastily, leaving dresses, toys and household articles 
to fall into the hands of the foe. Among the articles 
left was a writino- desk, with the followino- unfinished 
letter, which after many years has been returned. It is 
such a touching picture of those old Confederate days 
that consent has been given to its publication : 

'"THE cottage; January gth, 1S65. 
"My Own Dkar Parents: 

' ' I kno\Y you have been anxious enough about us all, knowing what a terrible 
bt)mbardment we have had, but I am glad that I can relieve your mind on 
our behalf and tell you that we are all safe and well, through a most 
merciful and kind Providence. God was with us from the first, and our 
trust was so firm in Him that I can truly say that both Will and I 'feared 
no evil'. 

"I staid in my comfortable little homo until the lleet appeared, when I 
packed up and went across the river to a large but empty house, of which 
1 took possession; a terrible gale came on which delayed the attack for 
several days, but Saturday it came at last in all its fury ; I could see it 
plainly from \Yhere I was; 1 had very powerful glasses, and sat on a stile 
out doors all dav watching it — an awful but magnificent sight, 

"I kept up very bravely (for yoi( knoiv I am brave, and icovld, if J 
thought I could, whip Porter and Butler myself), until the last gun had 
ceased auvd it began to get dark and still. I was overcome at last and laid 
my head on the fence and cried for the first and last time during it all. I 
then got my carriage and rode to a fort near b}- to learn the news, but my 
heart failed as I approached it, and I returned to the house and waited a 
dispatch, which I received about 11 o'clock, saying all was well. I was 
quite touched with a little incident which occurred during the day; the 
little ones looked very grave and thoughtful ; at last Dick came to me in 
the midst of the roaring and awful thimderingand said: ' Mnn-ma, I want 



105 

to pray to God for my papa'. He knelt down and said his little earnest 
prayer; then jumped up, exclaiming and dancing about: 'Oh, sister, I 
am so glad! J am so glad! Now Ood will keep care of my papa' ! 

" The shelling was even moi'e terrific on Sunday, and I, not knowing 
how long it might continue, concluded to go to Fayette ville, and started 
Sunday noon in a small steamer, with the sick and wounded, to Wilmington, 
where I was obliged to stay for several days in great suspense, not able to 
get away and not able to hear directly from Will, as the enemy had cut the 
\xires, — and then a martyr to all kinds of rumors — one day heard that Will 
had lost a leg, etc.. etc.; but I steadfastly made up my mind to give no 
credit to anything bad. At last I heard again that we had driven our 
persecutors off, and I returned again to the place where I went first, and 
the next day Will came over for me and took me to the fort, which I rode 
all over on horseback, but we did not move over for nearly a week. The 
tort was strewn with missiles of all kinds — it seemed a perfect miracle 
how any escaped-^the immense works were literally skinned of their turf, 
but not injured in the slightest; not a bomb-proof or a magazine — and there 
nre more than one— touched; the magazine the enemy thought they had 
destroyed was only a caisson ; the men had very comfortable quarters in 
the fort — pretty little white- washed houses — but the shells soon set fire to 
them, makmg a large fire and dense smoke, but the works are good for 
dozen of sieges— plenty of everything; particularly plenty of the greatest 
essential— drave hearts. Our beloved General Whiting was present, but 
:g-ave up the whole command to Will, to whom he now gives, as is due, the 
whole credit of building and defending his post, and has urged his 
promotion to Brigadier-General, which will doubtless be received soon, 
though neither of us really care for it. 

" We expect the Armada again, and will give him a warmer reception 
next time. The fort, expecting a longer time of it, was reserving their 
heaviest tire for nearer quarters. Butler's ', gallant troops' came right 
'under one side of the fort, but our grape and canister soon drove them off, 
and nxjt Porter's shell, which did not happen to be falling that way at that 
lime; they left their tra-ces sufficiently next morning. 



106 

"The 'o^allant fellow' who stole the horse from the inside of the fort 
was doubtless so scared he didn't know much where he was. The true 
statement of the thing is, that an officer, unauthorized by Will or the 
General, sent a courier outside the fort with a message to some troops 
outside, and soon after he left the fort was attacked and killed by a Yankee 
sharp-shooter hidden under a bridge. The poor body fell and the horse 
was taken, and the flag spoken of, in the same way, was shot from the 
parapet and blew outside, when it was taken. When any of them see the 
inside of the fort, they will never live to tell the tale, 

"Ah, mother! you all, at home peacefully, do not know the misery of 
being driven from home by a miserable, cruel enemy! 'Tis a sad sight to 
see the sick and aged turned out in the cold to seek a shelter, I cannot 
speak feelingly because of any feeling myself, as God is so good to us, and 
has so favored us with life, health and means, and my dear, good husband 
has provided me a comfortable home in the interior, where I can be safe. 

" Will has worried so much about you, dear mother, thinking you would 
be so anxious about us. He often exclaims, when reading some of the 
lying accounts: ' How that will worry Ma ' ! 

" How is my darling Willie ? We do so want to see our boy. I think 
Will will have to send for him in the Spring. Kiss the dear one dozen of 
times for his father and mother, 

• "Though it was a very unpleasant Christmas to me, still the little ones; 
enjoyed theirs. Will had imported a crowd of toys for them, and they are 
as happy as possible with them . 

" I have not heard from my dear home since last August, and you can 
imagine how very anxious I am to hear, particularly of dear sister Ria. Is 
she with George ? Do write me of all the dear ones I love so much , How 
I would love to see you all, so much, and home ! 

" I forgot to tell you of the casualties in the fight. Ours were only three 
killed;, about sixty wounded:, they were all. 



107 
Butler's Powder Ship. 

Sn the course of his admirable address to 5,000 ex-Union 
soldiers at Steinway Hall, New York City, on May 3d, 
1878, our silver-tongued orator of the Cape Fear, Colonel 
Alfred M. Waddell, said: 

" While it may be difficult to determine in what engagement of the wr.r 
the severest concentrated fire of small arms occurred, there can be no 
doubt as to the place where the power of heavy artillery was exhibited in 
its most terrific form. The bombardment of Fort Fisher was by far the 
most frightful that has ever happened since the invention of gun-powder. 
All the testimony taken before the * Committee on the Conduct ot the 
War' goes to establish this fact; but, in addition to this, and to the 
universal admission on the Confederate side, there was still stronger 
evidence which was given in ray presence the day after the capture of the 
fort by a competent and disinterested witness. The siege of Sebastopol is 
admitted to have been the greatest bombardment in history up to that 
time. An English officer, however, who had run the blockade, and who 
Was present at Fort Fisher under an assumed name, was giving an account 
of it after his escape, and, avS preliminary to his remarks, said that he had 
been at Sebastopol and thought there could never be anything like it again. 
' But,' said he,' Sebastopol was the merest child's play compared to what 
I have witncvssed in the last two days. It was simply inconceivable and 
indescribable in its awful grandeur. I had no conception until now of 
what an artillery fire could be/ You remember, peihaps, that there was 
no cessation for more than forty-eight hours, and there were, besides the 
other projectiles, as many as twepty-five ii-inch shells in the air at the 
same instant throughout the whole time. Fifty thousand shells were 
expended by the fleet. During the continuance of the fire it would have 
been impossible for any livii\g thing to remain on the parapets which faced 



108 

the sea for a mile, and when the assaulting column was formed there was, 
along that whole front, but a single gun remaining, and that could only be 
fired once before the fort was reached, and that long, desperate hand-to- 
hand struggle began. A month before this the celebrated powder- ship 
explosion occurred, which was intended to blow down this solid earthwork, 
a mile in extent, with forty- feet traverses every few yards. The best 
incident of this huge joke was related to me by a distinguished officer of 
the navy several years ago. The night after the explosion of the powder- 
ship some of our pickets on the beach were captured and carried on board 
the Admiral's ship. Among them was a very solemn-looking fellow, who 
sat silently and sadly chewing tobacco. As there was intense curiosity 
among the officers of the lieet to know the re.sult of the remarkable 
experiment, one of them asked the solemn -looking 'Reb' if he was in the 
fort when the powder-ship exploded; to which he replied in the affirmative, 
but without exhibiting the least interest in the matter; whereupon the 
officers gathered around him and began to ask questions: 

" You say you were inside the fort ? " 

"Yes; I was thar." 

" What was the effect of the explosion ? " 

" Mighty bad, sir — powerful bad." 

" Well, what was it ? Did it kill any rebels or throw down any of the 
works?" 

"No, sir; hit didn't do that." 

" Well, what did it do ? Speak out." 
' Why, stranger, hit waked up pretty nigh every man in the fortl" 



"S^ 



109 
The Rocks—Closure of New Inlet. 



lEaiNNiNG at Battery BuclianaD, a long line of heavy 
masonry, known as the Rocks, will doubtless interest 
the traveller. 

This sea-wall is one of the best x^lanned and most 
successful engineering feats in the South. In the year 
1761, during a heavy storm, the Atlantic ocean broke 
across the narrow sand beach which divided the sea from 
the river some seven miles above the mouth, which from 
that time became known as the New Inlet, and which 
caused a rapid shoaling of the old channel, there being- 
then two outlets instead of one as formerly. 

The Cape Fear river, from its mouth nearly to 
Wilmington, is j)roperly a tidal estuary of about thirty- 
eight square miles. The river and its branches drain 
an area of about eight thousand square miles. The 
amount of fresh water passing out at the mouth, though 
large, is insignificant when compared with the tidal flow 
which alternately fills and empties this great reservoir. 
The mean fresh water discharge of the river does not 
exceed 9,000 cubic feet per second, while the tidal flow 
at the entrance averages about 175,000 cubic feet per 
second. This is the real force which creates and 
preserves the channel across the shifting sands of the 
coast at the mouth of the river. No demonstration is 



no 

needed to prove the importance of eoncentrating this 
force. It is also apparent that such a force would be 
most efficient in preserving a passage across a bar and 
shoals which are in a position sheltered from the 
prevailing winds and heaviest storms of the coast. This 
we have at the natural mouth of the river, which is 
wholly sheltered from northerly, northeasterly, and, in 
a great measure, from easterly winds by its position in 
the bay, i)rotected by Cape Fear and Frying Pan Shoals. 
Congress was accordingly x)t3titioned by our people to 
appropriate the necessary means for increasing the depth 
of water on Cape Fear bar and river; and after careful 
surveys and estimates by the Corps of Engineers U. S. A., 
it was decided to undertake the entire closure of New 
Inlet under the direction of Colonel W. P. CraighilL 
This important and difficult work was begun in 1875. 
A continuous line of mattresses composed of logs and 
brushwood sunk and loaded with stone, was laid entirely 
across the New Inlet from October, 1875, to June, 1876. 
This was the foundation of the dam. The work was 
continued from year to year by piling small stone rip-rap 
on and over this foundation, bringing it up to high 
water, and then covering it with heavy granite stones on 
the top and slopes to low AVater. The closure was 
completed successfully in 1881 and was the occasion of 
much rejoicing in AVilmington, for its failure would 



Ill 

have C3ompletely raiiiHd the [)()rr of Wiliriington^ wliich 
depends for its life u[)on deep water and successful 
competition with Norfolk and Charleston. 

The length of the dam from Federal Point to Zeke's 
Island is one mile, but the extension of Zeke's Island 
jetties to Smith's Island makes the line much longer. 
The Rock foundation of this wall is from dO feet to 120 
feet wide at the base, and for three-fourths of the line 
the average depth of the stone wall is 30 feet from the 
top of the dam. In some places it is 36 feet deep. The 
stone used in this gigantic structure would build a solid 
wall eight feet high, four feet thick and one hundred 
miles long. The cost of the work was $480,000 — a small 
sum when the magnitude and difficulty of the undertaking 
is considered. 



Battery Lamb— Confederate Salt Works* 



'1|; A8SING Battery Lamb, a Confederate work on Reeves' 
Point, we c )me to Walden^s Creek, uj^on which were 
established, in war times, large Confederate Salt Works 
for the supply of this indispensable article to the 
soldiers of the South. 

The salt-water was carried in lighters from New Inlet 
to this creek and evaporated by artificial hen t. producing 



112 

i\ fine white salt at a small expense. These Salt Works 
lined the coast from Cape Fear to Cape Lookout, and 
many were owned by speculators who made large 
fortunes in Confederate money from their product. 
Nearly all of them were demolished from time to time 
by the Federal blockaders which threw shells in the 
woods every day where tell-tale smoke indicated the 
location of salt pans. But as soon as the demoralized 
darkies who attended them could be brought back from a 
seven-mile stampede, the plucky owners would begin to 
lay out another plant. 

It is also noteworthy that the bricks which were used 
in the original construction of Fort Caswell were made 
on the banks of Walden Creek. 



Snow^s Marsh— Dredging Steamer 
*' Cape Fear," 

^Farther down is Snow^s Marsh, through which the 
ship channel runs. This tortuous cou.rse has for years 
perplexed and discomfited navigators on account of the 
shifting sands and shoaling water which made it at times 
almost impassable to large vessels. For a long time this 
trouble baffled the engineers, but in 189o Major W. S. 



113 

Stanton, Corps of United States Engineers, undertook 
to protect the channel by a trainino- dike or wall of 
brushwood bound in bundles by heavy wire, which 
has proved highly effective. The bundles were 22 feet 
long and 2 feet in diameter, piled to a height of half 
tide between piles driven 15 feet into sand and mud, 
8 feet apart, in two rows, 5 to 6 feet apart. Should 
this means prove permanently effective, a more sub- 
stantial wall may be built later. 

Another helpful contrivance of Major Stanton's is the 
U. S. dredging steamer "Cape Fear," which he designed 
especially for this service and which began a most 
successful work in June, 1895. She is fitted with sand- 
pumps of great strength and capacity, which lift and 
deposit in the bins on board about 500 cubic yards of 
sand per hour. This steamer is invaluable to the work 
now under the direction of Colonel D. P. Heap, U. S. 
Engineers, for the deepening of the river and bar. 

The total exjjenditure of money upon our river and 
harbor improvement from the year 1829 to 1895 was 
12,427,584.46, and Congress has just appropriated the 
further sum of $195,000 for the continuance of the 
work. 



114 

Price's Creek Light House— Confederate 
States Signal Station. 



,E seeontheAVestern side the old ante-bellum light- 
house and keeper's residence on Price's Creek, which 
were used during the Civil War as a signal station— the 
only means of communication between Fort Caswell at 
the western bar and Fort Fisher at the New Inlet via 
Smithville, where the Confederate General resided. 

The Confederate States Signal Corps frequently 
rendered some very efficient service to the blockade- 
runners after they had succeeded in getting between the 
blockaders and the beach, where they were also in 
danger of the shore batteries until their character 
became known to the forts. 

As the signal system developed, a detailed member 
was sent out with every ship, and so important did this 
service become that signal officers, as they w^ere called, 
were occasionally applied for by owners or captains of 
steamers in the Clyde or at Liverpool before sailing for 
Bermuda or Nassau to engage in running the blockade. 

The first attempt to communicate with the shore 
batteries was a failure, and consequently the service 
suffered some reproach for awhile, but subsequent 
X)ractice with intelligent, cool-headed men, resulted in 



115 

complete success, and some valuable ships, with still 
more valuable cargoes, were saved from capture or 
destruction by the intervention of the Signal. Service, 
when, owing to the darkness and bad landfall, the 
captain and pilot were alike unable to recognize their 
geograx3hicaJ position. 

To Mr. Frederick Gregory, of Crowells, N. C, belongs 
the honor of the first success as a signal operator in this 
service. Identified with the corps from the beginning 
of the blockade, and with the Cape Fear at Price's 
Creek Station, wdiich was for a long time in his efficient 
charge, he brought to this new and novel duty an 
experience and efficiency equalled by few of his 
colleagues and surpassed by none. It was well said of 
him that he was always ready and never afraid — two 
elements of the almost unvarying success which attended 
the ships to which he was subsequently assigned. It 
was my good fortune to be intimately associated with 
Mr. Gregory for nearly two years, during which we had 
many ups and downs together as shipmates aboard and 
as comx)anions ashore. He was one of the few young 
men engaged in blockade-running w^ho successfully 
resisted the evil infiuences and dej^raved associations 
with which we were continually surrounded. Unselfish 
and honorable in all his relations with his fellows, 
courageous as a lion in time of danger, he was an honor 



116 

to his State and to tlie cause wliicb lie so worthily 
represented. 

Another gallant Confederate deserving honorable 
mention was Leo Yogel, an officer under Maffitt on the 
corvette ""Florida," and subsequently with us on the 
"Lilian." Patriotic, brave, generous, he was a noble 
type of Southern chivalry, an honor to his flag and 
country. Of charming physique and pleasing address^ 
his mr.'desty and good breeding were in striking contrast 
with the occasionally disgraceful conduct of others who 
w^ere most discreditable to the South. For some time 
after the war Captain Yogel was identified with the 
Charleston and Florida Steamboat Company, command- 
ing for many years the steamer " Dictator," until he was 
placed in charge of the magnificent steamer "St. Johns," 
the most palatial boat ever constructed for the Florida 
business. While with this Company Captain Vogel 
numbered his friends and acquaintances by the 
thousands, and now that he has a steamer on the 
St, John's, they never fail to avail themselves of a trip 
with him up this beautiful river. He is said to be one 
of the attractions of the "Land of Flowers." 



117 

Wilmington and Charleston Mail Boats* 

A/HE ruined lio'ht-houses at Big Island, Orton Point 
and Price's Creek remind us of the days long ago, when 
passengers and mails from the great North and South 
were transported between Wilmington and Charleston 
by way of the Cape Fear river on the regular line of 
ocean steamers connecting the Wilmington & Weldon 
Railroad with Charleston and the Sonth. The names of 
these steamers, which were of the best design in those 
days, were "Wilmington," "Gladiator," "North 
Carolina," "Vanderbilt" and "Dudley." The average 
X)assage between Wilmington and Charleston was about 
seventeen hours, but it was done under exceptionally 
favorable conditions in twelve hours. The boats were 
about 190 feet long, draft 10 to 12 feet, and in conse- 
quence of the lack of water on the bar, they had often 
to wait for a tide. 

The Company's office and landing pier was just north 
of the Champion Compress, where the Atlantic Coast 
Line warehouses now stand. John A. Taylor, Esq., 
Col. James T. Miller and Captain Benjamin Lawton were 
agents of the line at different times ; the last named 
acted in that cax^acity when the boats were sold upon 
the completion of the Wilmington and Manchester Pail- 



118 

road, now the Wilmington, Oolnnibia and xVugusta 
Kailroad. 

In 1851, the remains of the lamented statesman, John 
C. Calhoun, were brought from the North by the 
Wilmington and Weldon Railroad, ;ind conveyed to the 
present Custom House wharf, from which they were 
transi)orted by the "Nina," a special steamer, sent from 
Charleston with the Committee from that city on board. 
The "Nina" was draped in deep mourning. 

On another occasion the fnmous singer, Jenny Lind, 
known also as the Swedish Nightingale, was a passenger 
during the most tempestuous voyage ever encountered 
by these boats — a very destructive storm prevailed along 
the coast. The diva was under the management of 
P. T. Barnum, and the troujje consisted of sixty persons. 
The great singer persisted in remaining on deck during 
the entire trip, while the others kept below, indifferent to 
everything but the fact that they were distressingly 
sea- sick. 



"g^ 



119 
The Cape Fear Quarantine Station, 



^-TiiE following excellent editorial by Doctor Robert 
D. Jewett is taken from the North Carolina Medical 
Journal of April 5th, 1896: 

" The Cape Fear river is the only marine gateway of importance by which 
epidemics may gain an entrance into North Carolina; and while vessels never 
pass up the river more than two or three miles above Wilmington, the whole 
State is, of course, deeply and directly interested in the efforts to prevent the 
introduction of infectious diseases at this port. As the poison gaining an 
entrance through a slight peripheral lesion passes along the lymph and 
circulatory channels and makes the whole organism sick, so one case of 
contagious disease gaining entrance through this port, away down in the 
southeastern corner of the State, may spread along the avenues of travel 
and endanger the welfare of the whole Commonwealth. And as this applies 
to one State it applies to the whole country; therefore the whole country is 
directly interested in stopping the poison at the gateway. The watchers at 
the port of New York protect Chicago as truly as they do New York, and 
those at New Orleans defend Memphis and all the cities on the Mississippi 
as well as New Orleans. And since the quarantine at a port of entry is 
intended as a protection for the whole country, it is not just that one Slate 
or city should be burdened with the expense of conducting it. 

" For a number of years the quarantine at the mouth of the Cape Fear has 
been under the control of a Quarantine Board, consisting of three medical 
men, receiving their appointment from the Governor of the State. We 
speak of it as a Station, but it was so only nominally, for there was no plant 
for the disinfection of vessel and crew, and no hospital for the care of the 
sick or the detention of suspects. The disinfection of vessels was 
accomplished by burning in their holds a quantity of sulphur, while 
disinfection of the crew's clothing was probably never done. The fact that 



120 

we have so long escaped the introduction of contagious diseases is therefore 
due, apparently, rather to Divine beneficence than to our own care and 
watchfulness. 

" The Quarantine Board have long felt the great need of a well-equipped 
station, and with the co-operation of the City Produce Exchange succeeded 
in getting passed by the Legislature of 1893 a bill appropriating $20,000 for 
this purpose, provided the city of Wilmington would appropriate $5,000. 
The city refused to do its part, and the station remained unequipped. 

" In February, 1S93, a bill was passed in Congress granting to the Marine 
Hospital Service the control over all quarantines; but provided that 
whenever a local quarantine station complied with the minimum require- 
ments of the United States quarantine laws, as determined by periodical 
inspections by officers of the Marine Hospital Service, that station should not 
be interfered with. The State Board of Health seeing that the effort to equip 
the station and keep it under the State control had failed, turned the station 
over to the Marine Hospital Service An inspection was made and an 
appropriation uf $25,000 immediately secured for building and equipping 
the station with modern apparatus. 

" Plans were devised in the office of the Supervising Architect and the 
contract to build the station awarded. Dr. J. M. Eager, who has had several 
years experience in Marine Hospital Service at Cincinnati, Key West and 
New Orleans, besides several details for special quarantine duty, was detailed 
to take command of the station, and will make an efficient officer. 

" The new station is located on the east side of the channel of Cape Fear 
river about one and one-eighth miles north of Southport. The station is to 
be built on a pier 600 feet long, with gangways, dock and ballast crib. The 
head of the pier will extend into the channel in 20 feet of water. The 
general plan of the pier will be in the shape of a cross, the front of which 
will extend towards the shoals. The Disinfecting House will be provided 
with the most approved scientific appliances for the mechanical and chemical 
cleansing of infected vessels. A sulphur furnace will be provided, with 
which 10 per cent, per volume strength of sulphur dioxide of gas can be 
evolved, a result not otherwise obtainable except by the liberation of liquified 



121 

SVilphUV dio'xurc. Th'i^ i^'a?. will b^ conducted m the holds and other parts of 
the vessels by means of a hose. Apparatus will also be provided for 
disinfection by iive steam, and tanks for the storage of disinfecting solutions 
\vith appliances for their application. There will be buildings for a hospital, 
J5urgeon's quarters and attendants' quarters. 

"A special landing for contagious patients^ to be taken to the hospital 
\vithout contact with other parts of the station, will also be provided. At 
Ipresent the station is being conducted for inspection only. Should any 
iinfected vessel arrive at Southport quarantine before completion of the 
Station-, it will be remanded to United States quarantine station, Blackbeard 
'island, Sapelo^ -Georgia^ for proper treatment. 

" The inspection of vessels is always made by daylight 'except in rases of 
Vessels in distress-. .All persons on vessels having had small-pox on board, 
inust be vaccinated or show satisfactory evidence of rec-ent vaccination, or of 
liaving had Sinall-pox, or detained in quarantine for not less than fourteen 
days, and all effects and colnpartm-ents lia^ole to convey infection, disinfected. 
No fees are charged for United States quarantine. Pilots who have boarded 
infected vessels are^subj-ect to the same treatment as members of the crew. 

" When a vessel is held for disinfection, the passengers and all of the crew 
^re removed if cholera has occurred, save those necessary to care for the 
vessel. The sick are placed in "hospital. Those especially suspected are 
'carefully isolated. The ethers are segregated in small groups, amd no 
^communication is allowed between these groups— those being especially 
capable of conveying infection are not peTmitted to enter the barracks 
tintil thej- are bathed and furnished with sterile clothing. No material 
Capable of conveying infection is taken in barracks, especially food. All 
hand-baggage is disinfected. All cargo liable to convey infection, the 
14'ving apart^iients, furniture and such other portion of vessels as are liable, 
■are disinfected. The water-tanks or casks are chemically cleansed and 
afterwards filled with water known to T^e absolutely pure, or with water 
recently boiied> 



122 

"After completion of all disinfection all persons are detained in 
quarantine for a time sufficient to cover the period of incubation of the^ 
disease for which quarantine is practiced — 'this for yellow fever is five days; 
for typhus, not less than twenty; for small-pox, not less than fourteen. 
No alien lepers are allowed to land. The quarantine laws will be rigidly 
enforced here as soon as the station is equipped." 



<«^»»i 



Southport— Governor Smith- 
Cape Fear Pilots. 

iAEAK the month of the beautiful Gnpe Fear riven 
on its right bank, is a pleasant little town. It is fanned 
by the delicious sea breezes ; huge live-oaks gratefully 
shade its streets. In its sombre cemetery repose the 
l)odies of many excellent people. Its harbor is good. 
It is on the main channel of the river. From its wharves 
can be seen, not far away, the thin white line of waves- 
as they break on the sandy beach. But the ships to and. 
from its neighbor, Wilmington^ pay little tribute as they 
pass and repass. Its chief fame is that it contains the 
Court House of the county of Brunswick. Its name is 
Smithville.^' 

Thus wrote the Hon. Kemp P, Battle^ in his beautiful 
tribute to the memory of the first benefactor of the 
State Univers-ity^ Benjamin Smithy who had served in 
his youth as Aid-de-Camp of Washington, who had 



123 

behaved vvitli conspicuous gallantry under Moultrie, 
when he drove the British from Port lloyal, who had 
roused to enthusiasm, by an address full of energy and 
lire, the entire male population of Brunswick county to 
follow his lead against their country's enemy, who was 
elected fifteen times to the Senate, and who, in 1810, 
became Governor of the Commonwealth. Philanthropist, 
Patriot, Soldier, Statesman, he came at last, in poverty 
and wretchedness, to a pauper's end. For him, in 1792, 
this charming little town was named. It was previously 
known as Fort Johnston, a fortification named for the 
Colonial Governor, Gabriel Johnston, having been 
established here about the year 1745 for the protection 
of the Colony against pirates which infested the Cape 
Fear. 

The old garrison is still one of the sights of this 
healthful seaside resort. The town, or city as it is 
aravelv called by its dignified inhabitants, is now known 
as Southport, and, to the credit of its virtuous citizens, 
it is also known as a dry tow^n, in the sense that 
no intoxicants are permitted to be sold within its 
jurisdiction. 

Smithville was a centre of busy military life during 
the war between the States. Here were the headquarters 
of tlie Confederate General commanding the post, and 
here the homes of about sixty hardy pilots wliose 



124 

humble sphere was suddenly exalted to the dignity of 
the most important and responsible officers of the swift 
blockade-running steamers, which braved the dangers 
of a hostile fleet and crept in every night under cover of 
the darkness. 

The Cape Fear pilots have long maintained a standard 
of excellence in their profession most creditable to them 
as a class and as individuals. 

The writer, for eight years a member of the Board of 
Commissioners of Navigation and Pilotage, having 
ample means of observation at home and abroad, believes 
that our pilots would compare most favorably with any 
organization of the kind elsewhere in all the essential 
qualifications of this noble calling. 

The story of their wonderful skill and bravery in the 
time of the Federal blockade has never been written 
because the survivors are modest men, and time has 
obliterated from their memories many incidents of this 
extraordinary epoch in their history. 

Amidst the impenetrable darkness, without lightship 
oi' beacon, the narrow and closely-watched inlet was felt 
for with a deep sea lead as a blind man feels his way 
along a familiar path; and even when the enemy^s fire 
was raking the wheel-house, the faithful pilot, with 
steady hand and ir(m nerve, safely steered the little 



125 

fugitive of the sea to her desired haven. It might be 
said of him as it was told of the Nantucket skipper, 
that he could get his bearings on the darkest night by a 
taste of lead. 



Bald Siead-^Pi rates. 

z — ^ 

'jllIiALD Head, upon which now stands the friendly 
lighthouse, an emblem of peace and good will to men, 
was once the scene of barbarous atrocity. In the early 
days of the colony, and after the abandonment of the 
river settlements by the whites, the Cape was in great 
disrepute on account of the savage barbarity of 
the Indians, who decoyed vessels ashore, and who, 
after plundering the ships, iiendishly mutilated and 
murdered the unfortunate sailors who fell into their 
hands. 

It was also for years after, the rendezvous of pirates 
—as many as twenty piratical vessels, under the black 
flag, skull and cross bones, having anchored at one time 
in the now peaceful harbor of Southport. These preyed 
upon the shipping between Charleston and the West 
Indies ; and they were commanded by the notorious 
pirate chiefs. Steed Bennett and Richard Worley. The 
infamous Edward Teach, known as Blackbeard, also 



126 

used these waters in liis nefarioas undertakings. He 
commanded a ship of forty guns and his squadron 
consisted of six vessels. The depredations of these 
sea robbers became so ahirming that Governor Spots- 
wood, of Virginia, appealed to the British naval officers 
on that station to send a force into Carolina w^aters and 
capture those desperate pirates. Two sloops of war were 
at once fitted out and a brave British officer, Lieutenant 
Maynard, placed in command, who sailed from James 
River, November 1718, and overtook Teach in Pamlico. 
As Maynard approached Teach, the pirate swore at 
him with the most horrid imprecations, saying that he 
would neither give nor take quarter. Maynard's ship 
unfortunately grounded, giving Teach the advantage, 
and the pirate's first broadside killed twenty of his 
men. Maynard saw that the situation was desperate, 
and promptly determined to fight hand to hand to the 
death. Teach immediately laid his ship alongside and 
boarded and the slaughter began. The deck was soon 
slippery with blood. Not a man on either side escaped 
unhurt; nearly all the pirates were killed or desper- 
ately wounded. Maynard and Teach fought hand to 
hand with their dirks. At last the pirate fell and the 
gallant Maynard, having ordered the pirate's head 
severed from his body, placed it at the end of his bow- 
sprit and returned to Virginia. 



127 

On Bald Hend is now established, in striking con- 
trast with those dreadfnl times, a well-eqnipped Life 
Saving Station, with a stnrdy crew of brave hearts and 
strong arms, always alert for signals of distress at sea. 

The honored and lamented George Davis has elo- 
qnently referred to this point, as follows : 

"Looking then to the Cape for the idea and reason of its name, we find that 
it is the Soiithermost point of Smith's Island, a naked, bleak elbow of sand, 
jutting- far out into the ocean. Immediately in its front, are the Frying 
Pan Shoals pushing out still further twenty miles to sea. Together they 
stand for warning and for woe ; and together they catch the long 
majestic roll of the Atlantic as it sweeps through a thousand miles of 
grandeur and power from the Arctic towards the Gulf. It is the play-ground 
of billows and tempests, the kingdom of silence and awe, disturbed by no 
sound save the sea-gull's shriek and the breaker's roar. Its whole aspect 
is suggestive, not of repose and beauty, but of desolation and terror. 
Imagination cannot adorn it. Romance cannot hallow it, Local pride 
cannot soften it. There it stands to-day, bleak and threatening and 
pitile.ss, as it stood three hundred years ago, when Greenville and White 
came near unto death upon its sands. And there it will stand bleak and 
threatening and pitiless until the earth and the sea shall give up their 
dead. And as its nature, so its name, is now, always has been, and always 
will be the ' Cape of Fear.' " 



Fort Caswel l. 

^,HE work at Fort Caswell at the mouth of the Cape 
Pear river was commenced by the Government in the 
year 1826. Major George Blaney, of the United States 
Engineer Corps, was in charge of it for several years 
until his death at Smithville (now SoiUhport), in 1836 or 
1837. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and was 
an accomplished officer. His remains were brought 
to Wilmington, and the Wilmington Yolunteers, a 
uniformed Company, and the only one then existing in 
the town, formed at the Market dock to receive them, 
and escorted them to the old burial-ground adjoining 
St. James^ church, where they were interred with military 
honors and where they still repose. 

Major Blaney's assistant in building the fort was Mr. 
James Ancrum Berry, a native of Wilmington, a natural 
engineer, the bent of whose mind was strongly mathe- 
matical, who was thoroughly competent for the position 
he held and who took great pride in the work. So much 
so, indeed, that he had a small house erected on the 
river-front of the fort and resided there with his family 
for a year or two until the encroaching waters rendered 
his habitation untenable, when he returned to Smithville* 
He died suddenly in 1832. He was hunting with the 
late Mr. John Brown, and while crossing a small stream on 



129 

a log he lost his footing, hisgan came in contact witli tlie 
log and was discharged, the contents entering his brain, 
killing him almost instantly. He was an honorable 
gentleman, high-toned and chivalric, and was greatly 
mourned. 

It is probable that Captain A. J. Swift, son of the 
distinguished Chief of the Engineer Corps, General 
Joseph Swift, succeeded Major Blaney. It is known, 
however, that he had charge of the works at the mouth 
of the river for quite a long time, and it is believed they 
were finished under his supervision. 

Captain Swift was regarded as one of the ablest 
engineer officers in the Army, and, though dying quite 
young, left behind him a reputation second to none in 
that branch of the service. 

Fort Caswell, named in honor of Richard Caswell, 
first Governor of the State, was in charge of United 
States Sergeant James Reilly at the beginning of the 
Civil War, who surrendered to a large force of Confede- 
rates under Colonel J. J. HedricJv, of Wilmington. 

It is a remarkable fact that, notwithstanding its 
exposed jDosition to the Federal fleet, no general 
engagement occurred at Caswell during the four year's 
war. The fort was of great service, however, in defending 
the main bar and the garrison at Smithville, although 



130 

the fighting was confined to an occasional artillery duel 
with the United States blockading fleet. 

The rnins are very interesting and are of a totally 
different character from the earthworks at Fort Fisher, 
It is understood that the War Department will restore 
and reinforce this once formidable fortification. 

We learn from the "Literary Digest" of April 25th, 
1896, that, with practical unanimity, the House of 
Representatives passed the Fortifications Approjjriation 
Bill without a division, and in the form recommended 
by the Appropriations Committee, on April 14th. The 
bill carries a total of $5,842,337, of which $1,885,000 is 
for the construction of gun and mortar batteries and 
fortifications, and $1,729,000 for armament of fortifica- 
tions. In addition to the total direct appropriation 
carried by the bill, the Secretary of War is authorized 
to enter into contracts to the total amount of $5,542,276 
for materials and construction of fortifications and 
armament, making the aggregate amount appropriated 
and authorized $11,384,613. 



^ 



f^^ 



131 

Evacuation and Explosion of 
Fort Caswell. 



^HE defences of Oak Island were composed of Forts 
Caswell and Campbell, the latter a large earth fort, 
situated about one mile down the beach from Fort 
Caswell ; Battery Shaw, and some other small works, 
all under the command of Colonel Charles H. Simoiton. 
With Colonel Simonton were the following members of 
his staff : Captain E. S. Martin, Chief of Ordnance 
and Artillery; Captain Booker Jones, Commissary; 
Captain H. C. Whiting, Quartermaster, and Captain 
Booker, Assistant Adjutant General. 

Fort Fisher fell about nine oNdock Sunday night, 
January 15th, 1865, and by midnight orders had been 
received at Fort Caswell to send the garrisons of that 
Fort and Fort Campbell down the beach and into the 
woods before daylight in order to conceal them from the 
Federal Heet. The troops were immediately withdrawn 
from the forts, and under cover of darkness marched 
away. Orders were also received to spike the guns in 
those two forts and destroy the ammunition as far as 
possible. Accordingly, during Monday, the 16th of 
January, the Chief of Ordnance and Artillery (Captain 
E. S. Martin) was em_ployed with the ordnance force of 



132 

the forts in carrying out this order, preparing to burn 
the barracks — hirge wooden structures built outside and 
around Fort Caswell— and blow up the magazines. 

About one o'clock, a. m., Tuesday, January 17th, the 
order came to evacuate and blow up the magazines, when 
Colonel C. H. Simonton, Lieutenant Colonel John D. 
Taylor and Captain Booker Jones, who had remained 
up to this time, departed, leaving Captain Martin to 
destroy the barracks and forts. The buildings Avithout 
the fort and the citadel within were at once set on fire, 
and were soon blazing from top to bottom. Trains had 
been laid during the day to each of the seven magazines 
at Fort Caswell and the five magazines in Fort Campbell, 
and under the lurid glare of the burning buildings the 
match was applied to the trains and magazine after 
magazine exploded with terrific reports. One of the 
magazines in Fort Caswell contained nearly one hundred 
thousand pounds of powder, and when it exploded the 
volume of sound seemed to rend the very heavens, while 
the earth trembled and shook, the violence of the shock 
being felt in Wilmington, thirty miles distant, and even 
at Fayetteville, more than one hundred miles away. 
Tlie sight was grand beyond description. Amidst this 
sublime and impressive scene the flag of Fort Caswell 
was for the last time hauled down and carried away by 






the officer above mentioned, who, with his men, silently 
departed — the last to leave the old fort, which for four 
long years of war had so gallantly guarded the main 
entrance to the river. 




134 

War Department Records— Forts 
Johnston and Caswell. 



^INCE the foregoing sketches of Forts Johnston and 
Caswell were in type I have received the following 
official particulars from the Honorable the Secretary of 
War, which will doubtless be found valuable and 
interesting : 

" Port Caswell, at the mouth of Caj^e Fear river, 
North Carolina, was commenced in the year 1826, the 
first appropriation for its construction being under Act 
of Congress approved March 2d, 1825. It was reported 
as about completed by Captain Alexander J. Swift, 
United States Engineers, October 20, 1838, at a total 
cost of $473,402. From 1838 to 1857, for preservation 
of site, repairs, etc., at Fort Caswell, and some repairs 
at Fort Johnston, the sum of $69,422.09 was expended, 
making a total to 1857 of $542,844.09. It was named 
Fort Caswell by War Department Order No. 32, of 
April 18th, 1833. 

"Fort Caswell was an inclosed pentagonal work, with a 
loop-holed scarp wall, flanked by cax3onniers, was 
constructed for an armament of 61 channel -bearing- 
guns, mounted en-barbette, and a few small guns for 
land defense. Capacious defensive barracks called a 
citadel occupied a large part of the parade. 



135 

"Upon its evacuation by the Con federate forces in 
Jannary, 1865, an attempt was made to blow it up. All 
the scarp wall of the southeast face was overturned by 
a mine exploded in the scarp gallery of that face ; a 
portion of the scarp wall of north and west fronts was 
badly shattered by the explosion of a magazine on the 
covered way near the northwest salient, and the citadel 
on the parade of the work was burned. 

''It is now in a dilapidated condition — its armament 
consists of seven 10-inch and four 8-incli Columbiads and 
one 9-inch Dalilgren guns, all en-barbette and not 
mounted. 

" New works are contemplated for the site of this fort, 
but their details are not x^ublished." 



Fort Johnston, N. C. 

^HE erection of the original fort was provided for by 
an Act of the Colonial Assembly held at New Berne 
Ajjril 20th, 1745 (page 94 of the Laws of North Carolina). 
It recited that, 'Whereas from the present War with 
France and Spain, there is great reason to fear that such 
parts of this Province which are situated most commo- 
dious for shipping to enter, may be invaded by the 



136 

enemy ; and whereas the entrance of Cape Fear River, 
from its known depth of water and other conveniences 
of navigation may tempt them to such an enterprise 
while Lt remains in so naked and defenceless a condition 
as it now is : Therefore, for the better securing of the 
Inhabitants of the said river from any insult and inva- 
sion,' etc. ^ ^ ^ That the 'Fort or Battery shall be 
called Johnston's Fort, and shall be large enough to 
contain at least Twenty-four Cannon, with Barracks and 
other conveniences for Soldiers.' 

"This was before the opening of New Inlet. This 
opening, which was caused by a violent equinoctial 
storm in 1761, increased in importance, so as to form a 
new mouth for the Cape Fear River, deepening from 6 
feet at low water in 1797 to 10 feet at low water in 1839, 
had a marked effect upon that river, diminishing the depth 
of water upon the main bar entrance from 15 feet in 
1797 to 9 feet in 1839. Prior to the opening of New 
InJet, and even until 1839, Baldhead channel was the 
natural and main entrance to the river. From 1839 to 
1872 both the Rip (western channel) and New Inlet were 
the main entrances, and the use of Baldhead was 
discontinued. Since 1872 and the closure of the New 
Inlet, Baldhead has again become the main channel. 

" As a result of work carried on under the supervision 
of the Corps of Engineers in 1894 the depth of the 



187 

channel at mean low water wns from AVilmirjoton, 2() 
miles, (o Snow's Marsh 18 feet, except where shoaling 
had occurred at the lower extremity of Lilliput Shoal, 
where the depth was 16J feet; at Snow's Marsh Shoal 
14 feet ; on the inner shoals at the bar IG feet by a 
crooked channel and 14.3 feet by a straight course, and 
on the outer bar 16.6 feet. 

" For the original depth of water, see old maps in 
the office of Lieutenant- Colonel D. P. Heap, Corps of 
Engineers, in the Post Office building at Wilmington. 
For historical sketches of the work of improving that 
river, &c., see report of Captain C, B. Phillips, Corps 
of Engineers, pages 321-331, of Annual Report of the 
Chief of Engineers for 1(S76; report of Captain W. H. 
Bixby, Corps of Engineers, pages 1,004-1,011 of Annual 
Reports of the Chief of Engineers for 1886; various 
reports of Mr. Henry Bacon in the Annual Ptcports of 
the Chief of Engineers from 1876 to 1890, and an article 
on the subject published on pages 236-246 of Volume 
XXIX, (July, 1893, number) of the Transactions of the 
American Society of Civil Engineers, in a paper 
entitled ' The Improvement of the Harbors on the 
South Atlantic Coast of the United States.' The 
printed annual reports of the Chief of Engineers may 
be seen in Colonel Heap's office. 



138 

" In a report made by Acting Assistant Surgeon, 
S. S. Boyei*, U. 8. Army, on this fort, published on 
pages 92-94 of Circuhir No. 4, War Department, 
Surgeon General's Office, December 5th, 1870, a report 
on Barracks and Hospitals, with descriptions of Mili- 
tary Posts, he states: 'This fort receives its name 
from Gabriel Johnston, who was Goyernor of the 
Province of North Carolina from 1734 to 1752, It was 
erected by the British soon after France declared war 
against England, in 1744. Since that period it has 
been garrisoned at irregular intervals." * '"' ''^ 
"There is no fort built upon the reservation. During 
the late civil war it came into the possession of the 
rebels, and they constructed some minor works upon 
it, which have since been removed by United States- 
troops. 

'"By reference to American State Papers^ Military 
Affairs, Vol. I, pages 95-101, 224, 237, etc, Mr. Sprunt 
will find information that may be of use to him in 
relation to the construction by the United States of a 
new work on the site of the old fort, finished about the 
year of 1809, etc. The new work consisted of a simple 
epaulement of concrete (some of it yet remains) and 
an enclosure of planks; within the enclosure there 
was a block house, lately destroyed, to the regret of 
this Department,, a powder magazine, and quarters for 



139 

officers of brick; and a barracks, a guard-house and a 
store-house of wood. 

"The terreplein of the battery was ten feet below 
the parade and site of the buildings. The battery 
could receive eleven or twelve guns. The block house 
was square and of two stories, the upper projected 
three feet, forming a machicoulis defense of the ap- 
proach to the lower story. The distance from the 
block house to the battery was about one hundred 
yards. This battery was provided with loop holes and 
embrasures above. 

" There is a drawing on file entitled 'Fort Johnston 
and part of the town of Smithville, N. C, 1802,' which 
shows a large pentagonal work. Whether this repre- 
sents the fort erected about 1745 or one erected later, 
is not shown by an exaniination of the records. 

" This is about all the information than can be ascer- 
tained from the records and maps of this office relative 
to these two forts, in reference to the inquiries of 
Mr. Sprunt," 



140 

Wild Pigeons— Wreck of Spanish Ship. 
Probable Murder— Treasure Trove. 



SuEiNG the early part of the century, about the year 
1812, great numbers of wild pigeons frequented Bald 
Head, where there was an immense roost. General 
Swift, then in command of Fort Johnston, says in his 
memoirs that some of these flocks were miles in extent 
and that the sound of their wings was like that of a 
roaring wind. Many were killed by sportsmen. 

In November, 1803, a large Spanish ship called the 
" Bilboa," was cast away on Cape Fear in a storm. 
The crew, numbering twenty men of villainous aspect, 
were arrested by Lieutenant Fergus, at Fort Johnston, 
and confined in the block house (which still exists), 
under suspicion of having murdered their captain and 
mate at sea. They told the improbable story that 
their officers had died at sea, and that they, being 
ignorant of navigation, had let the ship drive before 
the wind until she fetched up on Bald Head. They 
all had silver doUars tied in their sashes around their 
waists, and they said there was a great deal more on 
the wreck. The pilots and others made search for this 
treasure but did not recover it. For fifty years after- 
wiiids, these silver coins were occasionallv washed 



141 

up by the sea, and the pilots livino- on the island were 
always on the alert for specie on the beach after a 
severe storm. 

The sailors were sent to Charleston for trial, and 
in the absence of testimony a<^ainst the]n, were dis- 
charo'ed. 




Monitor Nantucket. 





o 

t-' 

< 

H 
O 

y. 









143 
Life-Savers. 

^i^oiT a mile from Fort Caswell, facing the dangerous 
middle-ground upon whicJi many a gallant ship has 
met her doom, is situated the Oak Island Life-Saving 
Station, the crew of which i)atrol the beach south of 
main bar. while their fellow life-savers of the Cape Fear 
Station on Bald Head watch the white line of breakers 
for miles to the north. 

A visit to either of these well-equipXDed stations will 
greatly interest those who are not already familiar with 
the drill and appliances of this humane institution. 
They were established upon our dangerous coast some 
years ago mainly through the instrumentality of our 
member of Congress, Colonel Alfred M. Waddell, who 
has said with reference to the service : 

" It is a hard life, a most tryin^^ and hazardous employment, the pecn- 
niary compensation for which, as to the surfmen, is small, and as to the 
keepers, who have great responsibilities, totally inadequate, being only 
$200 a year. If you have ever been in the breakers, as I have, even in 
ordinary weather and in a good boat, you can appreciate the value of calm, 
steady nerves, courage, strength and self-possession , 

" But when a howling tempest is raging, and the waves leap heavenward 
(with the thermometer perhaps at zero), the men who launch a life- boat in 
the surf, and pull out into the hell of waters to save their fellow-beings, 
must be made of such stuff as heroes are made of." 



144 
A Run to Sea. 

^I^EKHAPs the air is balmy and the trip to-day includes 
a run to sea. We swiftly pass Fort Caswell on the 
starboard side, with Bald Head Li^^ht House close aport. 
Soon the long ground-sw^ell of the majestic ocean tells 
us we have crossed the bar. Ahead we hear the dong, 
dong of the restless bell buoy, a weird but welcome 
warning to incoming strangers that dangerous shoals are 
near. Far off in the dim horizon, also in nearer view, 
white-winged merchantmen speed on their voyage up 
and down the coast. A trail of smoke marks the track 
of a distant steamer. Sea gulls, which Coleridge likened 
to human souls in the mist and darkness, sail past us 
with a grace and beauty of flight that is not of earth, 
but that comes alone from Him who marks the sparrow's 
fall and who holds the ocean in His fist. 

Away to the southwest are the blackfish shoals, where 
many a seasick amateur has longed to be at home. 
Exposed to the fury of every storm on the edge of the 
dangerous Frying Pan, we see the faint outlines of the 
good Light Ship as she plunges to her mushroom 
anchors and buries her head in the foam. 

"Alone on the wide, wide sea, so lonely 'twas that God Himself scarce 
seem^ed there to be." 



145 

W' e are now about ten miles out. Beneath ns many 
fathoms deep reposes a gallant and ill-fated ship, the 
Cuban sti^amer "Virginius." It is a sad but o'er true 
tale, and it may interest the sympathizers of Cuba Libre. 



Captain Fry and the Cuban War. 

jJiN the year 1841, a winsome, honest lad, who had 
determined to join the navy of his country, and who 
had been thwarted in his purpose by the friends at 
home, made his way alone from Florida to Washington, 
and demanded his right to speak with the President, 
"which was not denied him, 

Mr. Tyler was so pleased by the youthful manliness of 
the little chap, who was only eight years old, that he 
Invited him to dine at th-e White House on the following 
day. The favorable impression was confirmed on that 
occasion. The young Floridian was the observed (5f all 
observers; members of the Cabinet and their wives., 
members of Congress and officers of the navy had heard 
r>f the little lad's story, and all united in espousing his 
patriotic cause. 

The President, won by -his ardor, as well as by his 
.gentlemanly and modest behavior, granted the boy's 



146 

request and immediately^ signed bis warrant as a 
midshipman in the United States Navy. 

The subsequent record of Captain Joseph Fry, the 
Christian gentleman, the gallant sailor, the humane 
commander, the chivalrous soldier, is known to readers 
of American history. Of heroic mould and dignified 
address, he was 

"A combination and a form indeed, 
Where every god did seem to set his seal. 
To give the world assurance of a man." 

When the Civil War came, it found him among the 
most beloved and honored officers in the service. The 
trial of his faith was brief and bitter. He could not 
fight against his home and loved ones^ much as he 
honored the Hag which he had so long and so faithfully 
cherished. He was a Smithron, and with many pangs 
of sincere regret he went with his native State for weal 
or woe. 

His personal bravery during^ the war was wonderful ; 
he never performed deeds of valor under temporary 
excitement,, but acted with such coolness and daring as 
to command the admiration of superiors and inferiors 
alike. He was severely wounded at the battle of White 
River, and while on sick leave was ordered, at his own 
request, to command the Confederate blockade-runner 
" Eugenie," upon which the writer made a voyage. On. 




Captain ]oskph Fry> 



148 

one occasion the "Eugenie" grounded outside of Fort 
Fislier, while trying to run through the fleet in daylight. 
The ship was loaded with gun-powder — the Federal fleet 
was firing upon her — ^the risk of immediate death and 
destruction to crew and ship was overwhelming. Fry 
was ordered by Cok)nel Lamb to abandon the vessel and 
save his crew from death by explosion. He accordingly 
told all who wished to go — as for himself, he w^ould 
stand by the ship and try to save the powder, which 
was greatly needed l)y the Confederate Government, 
Several boatloads of his men retreated to the fort ; a 
few remained with Fry, the enemy^s shells falling thick 
and fast around them. In the face of this great danger, 
Fry lightened his ship, and upon the swelling tide 
brought vessel and cargo safely in. 

Later on he commanded the steamer "Agnes E. Fry,'' 
named in honor of his devoted wife. In this ship he 
made three successful voyages, after which she was 
unfortunately run ashore by her pilot, and lies not far 
distant from the "Virginius." Captain Fry was then 
placed in active service during the remainder of the war 
in command of the Confederate gun-boat "Morgan '" 
and was highly complimented by his General, Dabney 
H. Maury, for conspicuous bravery in action. 

After the war his fortunes underwent many changes. 
Several undertakings met with varying successor failure„ 



149 

At last, he went to New York in July, 1893, where he 
hoped to secure employment in command of an ocean 
steamer. There he was introduced to General Quesada, 
agent of the Cuban Republic, who offered him the 
command of the steamer " Virginius," then lying in the 
harbor of Kingston, Jamaica. He accepted the offer, and 
received a month's pay in advance, one hundred and 
fifty dollars, two-thirds of which he sent to his needy 
family, and reserved the remainder for his personal 
outfit. The "Virginius," originally named "Virgin," 
was built in Scotland in 1864, and was especially designed 
for a blockade runner in the Confederate service. She 
made several successful trips between Havana and 
Mobile. Being shut up in the latter port, she was used by 
the Confederates as a despatch and transport steamer. 
For a time, after the war, she was used by the Federal 
Government in the United States Revenue Service, but 
proving unsatisfactory, owing to her great consumption 
of coal, was sold at public auction by the United States 
Treasury Department to an American firm. The owners 
in 1870 took out American papers in legal form, and 
cleared her for Venezuela. From that time she was 
used in conveying volunteers and supplies to Cuba ; 
and while engaged in this business under the American 
flag, recognized by American consuls as an American 
vessel, she was overhauled at sea on the 81st of October, 



160 

1873, by the Spanish man-of-war "Tornado," and 
decLared a prize to the Spanish Government. Fry never 
dreamed of greater danger — -he occupied the same j^osi- 
tion he had assumed while running the Federal blockade 
and the same as in the recent cases of the "Commodore'' 
and the "Bermuda." He was a merchantman, carried 
no guns, made no armed resistance and flew the 
American flag. Notwithstanding all this, a drum-head 
Court-Mar tial was held on board the "Tornado" on the 
second day afterwards, the unfortunate victims con- 
demned as pirates and sentenced to immediate execution 
at Santiago cle Cuba, where the Spanish war sliip had 
arrived. Even then Captain Fry and his crew, wTio 
were nearly all Americans, expected release through the 
intervention of the United States authorities. Vain 
hope! The American Consul was absent; the Vice- 
Con sul did what he could, in vain ; the Home Govern- 
ment was silent; the British Consul x>i'otested, but 
without avail, and the butchery of these brave men 
began. We read from the newspaper accounts of the 
dreadful scene that the victims were ranged facing a 
wall. Captain Fry asked for a glass of water, which 
was given him by the friendly hand of one of his own 
race. He then walked with Arm, unfaltering steps, to the 
place assigned him, and calmly awaited the volley which 
end(Ml his noble life. 



151 

A touching scene occarrcd on the march to execu- 
tion. When the brave man passed the American 
Consulate, he gravely saluted the bare pole, which 
should have borne the Hag\ once and again, so dear to 
his heart, but which had failed him in his extremity. 

Although the firing party was only ten feet aw^ay^ 
says the published account, Fry was the only one 
killed outright. Tiien ensued a horrible scene. "The 
Spanish butchers advanced to where the wounded men 
lay, writhing and moaning in agony^ and placing the 
muzzles of their guns in the mouths of their victims, 
shattered their heads into fragments. Others were 
stabbed to death with knives and swords." 

Fifty-three victims had suffered death — ninety-three 
more were made ready for execution ; the bloody work 
was to be resumed, when an unlooked-for intervention 
came. The news had reached Jamaica, and it found 
in the harbor the British man-of-war "Niobe," under 
command of Captain Sir Lambton Lorraine, who, true 
to her name (goddess of tears) and to his instincts and 
honor as an Anglo-Saxon, needed no orders to speed 
to the rescue. Leaving in such haste that many of his 
men were left behind, he steamed with forced draught 
to Santiago. Before the anchor reached the bottom of 
the harbor the "Niobe's" drums had beat to quarters 
and the well-trained ornnners were at their stations. 



152 

Commander Lorraine ignored the customary formali- 
ties ; precious lives were trembling in the balance ; 
moments were vital. Before the Spanish General was 
made aware of his arrival, Lorraine stood before him, 
and demanded that the execution be stayed. To 
Burriels' unsatisfactory response the brave Commander 
returned answer that in the absence of an American 
man-of-war, he would protect the interest of the 
Americans. Brave words, Captain Lorraine ! All 
honor to you for them ! Still the Spaniard hesitated— 
he had tasted human blood, but his thirst was not 
satisfied. Again the gallant Britisher demanded an 
unequivocal answer, and report says, confirmed it by 
a threat that he would bombard the town as he had in 
Honduras for the protection of the Anglo-Saxon. His 
prompt, decisive action arrested the bloody work, and 
eventually saved the lives of the remainder of the 
" Virginius' " crew\ 

On his return to England, some months later, Sir 
Lambton was detained some days in New York. The 
city authorities, animated by his gallant conduct, ten- 
dered him a public reception, which was modestly 
declined. A^irginia City, Nevada, desiring to testify its 
appreciation of his noble humanity, forwarded to him a 
fourteen-pound brick of solid silver, upon which was 
inscribed his name and the incident, with the legend, 




Captain Sjr Lambton Lorraine, 
Royal Navy. 

rrReiiroduced from an inijierfeft woo"d eut-] 



154 

"Blood is thicker than water, '^ signifying aIs'o\ in 
Western eulogy, 'SM)ii'r a brick." 

A tardy recognition of the rights of American j)osses- 
sion was made later by the Spanish CTOvernment^ and 
the ''Yirginius" delivered to an American man-of-war^ 
While towing the nnfortunate craft off Cape Fear and 
bound for a Northern port, the ''Yirginius" sprang 
a-leak, oi' some say, was scuttled, and found her g¥9;V*e- 
in the ocean-depths beneath us, 

[See Life oJ Caiitaiii Fry, by .Itanilis Mart; Walkev :i 



Cape Fear Privateers 

in the War of 1812 and 1861. 



^iiE war against Gieat Britain was declared on t]ie IS'th^ 
of June, I8I25 and the United States were very success- 
ful on the higli seas in several naval engagements, buS 
it was tlie privateers which were fitted aut under letter?^ 
of marque that did the most damage. They severely 
distressed the eneniy's commerce^ and during the first 
seven months of the war captured about five hundred 
of their merchantmen and took nearly three thousandi 
prisoners. The prizes taken by those " skinnners of the 
seas" were generally carried into the port nearest the- 



-« T w 

scene of actioii, and sukl witii whatever cargoes they 
had, and immen&e snms were realized. Sevei'al were 
brought into Wilmington, having been captured near 
the coast ; and it was not long before the port became 
a rendezvous for vessels of that character. They would 
appear suddenly in the river, remain a few^ hours, some- 
times a day or two, and then mysteriously disappear, 
returning again with a prize they had succeeded in 
•oapturing. 

Tradition reports that on one occasion two of theui 
€ame in together — the Snap Dragon, under the couimand 
of Captain Otway Burns,, who had at that, time a consid- 
-erable amount of local notoriety; and the Kemp, com- 
manded by Caj)tain Almida, each accompanied by a 
merchant vessel they had captured. In due tiuie the 
vessels and cargoes were sold, but when the proceeds of 
the sal€ were to be divided a dispute arose between the 
two oflicers^ each claiming that the lai-ger portion should 
belong to him, as he was more instrumental in securing 
the prize than the other. The quarrel waxed hot, and it 
was feared that they would come to blows at any mo- 
ment, wh=en th« tiery Burns put an end to the discussion 
by challenging his antagonist to meet him on the sea 
and tight it ont yardarm to yardarm. Thetdiallenge was 
promptly accepted; each vessel got under way immedi- 
ately, and sailed for the appointed place of uieetm^-; 



156 

bnf, while inanoeuverino^ for position, a Ifeet of the ene- 
my's merchanrmen, under convoy of a ship of war, hove 
in sight, and effectually put a stop to the contemplated 
duel. Adjourning their quarrel to another time (but 
which was never renewed), they dashed into the lieet and 
succeeded in capturing' tw^o or three ships with valuable 
cargoes, and brought them safely into jjort, a much bet- 
ter result in every way than trying to send each other 
to the bottom on a mere question of dollars and cents. 

As showing how profitable the business was to aJl 
engaged in it, it is remembered that on one occasion a 
youth, in fact, a mere boy, who was a son of a citizen of 
Wihnington, volunteered on one of the ships, and wa8 
gone but one week, and his portion of the prize money 
amounted to more than six hundred dollars. He never 
tried it again, however, owing to the fact that a cannon- 
l)all frou) one of the enemy's guns jiassed through his 
liat and slightly scalped him on its passage. He was 
not seriously liurt, but sufficiently so to quash any 
further desire on liis part to become a i>rivateersman. 

In addition tr> the Kemp and Snap Dragon already 
mentioned, tlie waters of the (Jape Fear were frequently 
vexed V)y two other craft of similar character — the 
Saratoga, the name of whose commander is not now 
attainable and the General Armstrong, Captain Sinclair, 
of the naval force of the United States, Quite an. 



157 

amusing incident is reniembered in connectioii witli 
C;i[)tain Sinclair, tliongh at the time it occurred it came 
very near being a serious matter to him. While lying 
in this port, he received orders to discharge his crew 
and dismantle his ship, which he proceeded at once to 
do, and carried his light spars and rigging, ammunition 
and fire-arms, whicdi latter he stacked muzzle upwards, 
to a building which then stood on the southeast corner 
of Market and Second streets, while he occupied the 
rooms above as an oifice and bed-room. This arrange- 
menr continued undisturbed for some time, but one 
night during the prevalence of a violent thunder-storm, 
a loud explosion startled the inhabitants of the town, 
who rushed to the spot and found that the lightning had 
struck the building in which Sinclair had deposited so 
much combustible matter, and completely destroyed it. 
A rigorous search was made for Sinclair, but he could 
not be found, and it was finally given up upon the su^j 
position that he had been blown to pieces ; but at 
daylight, as two of his intimates were still searching 
amid the ruins, one of them finally remarked : '' It is 
no use searching any longer ; old Sinclair has gone to 
h — at last.'' A smothered voice that seemed to issue 
from beneath their feet was heard exclaiming : " That's 
a lie; come here, Jacobs, and help me out." It was 
Sinclair in the fiesh ; he had been stunned by the explo- 



158 

sion, but with tlie exception of a few bruises was not 
seriously injured. He was soon extricated from the 
debris under which he had been covered, and after a 
few remarks about the lightning, wdiich were more 
emphatic than polite, he and his chums disappeared 
from view and were seen no more until the following 
day. What finally became of him we have no means of 
ascertaining. 

When the war between the States commenced, the 
entire common navy was in possession of the Federal 
authorities, and the Confederates had no other resort 
than to enlist armed ships under letters of marque. 
Very soon quite a number of small vessels were put in 
commission, and reached the high seas by running the 
blockade; and in less than a month more than twenty 
prizes were taken and run into Southern ports. These 
vessels sailed from Charleston, Mobile, IS'ew Orleans and 
Wilmington, two having been fitted out in this ])ort. It 
will be remembered that the Savannah, a schooner of 
fifty tons, ran the blockade at Charleston in 1861, cap- 
tured one brig, but was herself soon after captured by 
the United States ship Perry, and her officers and crew* 
were sent to Philadelphia, where they were tried for 
piracy, and condemned to be executed, which was only 
prevented by an announcement from President Davis to 
Mr. Lincoln that if they were executed he w^ould surely 



U9 

retaliate by the execution of an equal number of United 
States prisoners then In the hands of the Confederate 
authorities. This brought the Government at Wash- 
ington to their senses, and the men were subsequently 
exchanged as other prisoners of war. The steamers 
Sumter, Nashville^ Florida, Alabama and Shenandoah 
were fitted out hy the Confederate Government ; and by 
this little fleet millions worth of merchandise was cap- 
tured, and the foreign trade of the enemy nearly driven 
from the ocean. But this is a matter of general liistory. 
and our business just now is with that wliiidi is more 
local. 

The first vessel htted out as a privateer in Wilming- 
ton W'as the steam tug Mariner dui'ing the gunimer el' 
1801. She was owned by a company of wliich the late 
Joseph H. Flanner was president, and was armed with 
one twenty four pounder forward and two nine pound- 
ers aftj and was under the command of Captain B. W, 
Beery. She made a cruise on the coast of North Caro- 
lina, captured one, perhaps two. vessels, and sent them 
into New Berne, when she returned to Wiluiingtcm. She 
was afterwards used during the spring and summer of 
1862 by the Confederate States Government as a guard 
boat on the Cape Pear river, and was under command of 
the late Captain Josejdi Price, a Wilmington boy, who 
was well known and ^I'eatlv esteemed by our' (Uti/^eus, 



160 

She tlieil mMo one trip through the blockade to NaSs 
sau and back to this port, but was captured on the next 
outward trip. 

^he United States GovernlTieiU tug "Uncle Ben'^ came 
to Wilmington in Aprils 1861, and was taken possession 
of by the Confederate States Go^^erntnent. When the 
iron -clad "North Carolina'^ was built^ the engines of 
the tug were taken out and used for that shi]^, the hull 
Was sold and bought by a Mr. Power, of the firm of 
f'ower, Low & Co.^ who were engaged in the blockade 
business at that time* She was rigged as a schoonei^ 
and armed with one twenty pound Parrott gun and two 
nine-pound smooth bore guns. She went to sea as a 
privateer, cruised in the West Indies for gome months, 
Capturing three or four vessels, but only succeeded in 
getting one into port, owing to the rigid l)lockade» She 
was finaliy sold in Nassau and was lost on Hatteras in 
the Winter of 186ft. After the seizure of the " Uncle 
Ben^^ by the Confederate authorities, her name was 
(diaUged to ^' Rptribution,'^ and she was commanded by 
Captain Locke, of Nova Scotia, her first ofiicei- being 
Captain Joseph Price^ of Wilmington. These two were 
the only privateers fitted out in Wilmington during our 
late Civil War- They did not acconi])ii^]i very ?]niclh 
and much could not have been expected of them, foi* 



161 

they were ordinnrv tn^n-bonts iiripiovised foi' the occa- 
sion, and not suited to the hazardous l)usiness in wliicdi 
rliey were eni])loyed. But they did some d:image, 
nevertheless, and those who managed and had charge of 
them are jnstly entitled to praise for the skill and 
intrepidity they displayed nnder very end)arrassing and 
advei'se conditions. 

rriie foregoing has been kindly furnished nie hy Colonel J. G. Buxr.) 



162 





'.eSS^K/M^V/uM.Nt 



Running the Blockade. 

Blockade-Runners. 

Tlhts narrative would be incomplete with on t a more 
extended reference to blockade-running on the Cape 
Fear during the Civil War, in which this writer, then a 
lad of sixteen years of age, was engaged as purser on 
the steamers "North Heath/' "Lilian^' and "Susan 
Beirne." The beach for mau}^ miles North and South 
of Bald Head is marked still by the melancholy wrecks- 
of swift and graceful steamers then employed in this 



perilous enterprise. Some of tlie liundred vessels 
engaged in this traffic ran between Wilmington and the 
West Indies with the regularity of mail-boats, and 
some, even of the slowest speed, eluding the vigilance 
of the Federal fleet, passed unscathed twenty, thirty 
and forty times, making millions for their fortunate 
owners. One little beauty, the "Siren," a fast boat, 
numbered nearly fifty voyages. The success of these 
8liips depended, of course, in a great measure, upon the 
skill and coolness of their commanders and pilots. It 
is noteworthy that those in charge of Confederate naval 
officers were never taken: but many were captured, sunk 
or otherwise lost through no fault of the brave fellows 
wdio commanded tliem. There were also cases of con- 
temptible and ludicrous cowardice on the part of officers 
who dearly loved to brag on shore of the perils they had 
passed and the dangers they had braved. Such an one 
commanded for a time a noted and most successful 
blockade-runner. He was a good navigator, but when 
shots from the enemy's guns fell near him, he fled 
ingloriously from the bridge and locked himself in his 
cabin, leaving his chief officer and never-failing chief 
engineer to extricate the ship, which their cooler heads 
and braver hearts accomplished with safety to all on 
board. The unworthy commander would then, with 
unspeakable audacity, relate to his admiring friends 



164 

from Fort Fisher a clever story of liow he had eluded 
the pursuing blockaders. 

The names of some of the wrecks referred to may 
interest the traveller. The 'VBeanregard " and the 
"Venus" lie stranded OQ Carolina Beach; the "Modern 
Greece " near New Inlet ; the ''Antonica'' on Frying 
Pan Shoals ; the '' Ella" on Bald Head ; the " Spunky " 
and the "Georgiana McCall " on Caswell Beach; the 
"Hebe" and the "Dee" between Wrightsville and 
Masonboro. Two others lie near Lockwood's Folly 
bar, and others whose names are forgotten lie half 
buried in the sands where they may remain for centu- 
ries to come. 

The loss of the " Georgiana McCall " is associated 
with a horrible crime — the murder of her pilot When 
the ship was beached under the fire of the blockaders^ 
Mr. Thomas Dyer did not leave with the retreating 
crew who sought safety ashore; he seems to have 
been left behind in the rush. It was known that he 
had a large amount of money in gold on board, and it 
was thought that he remained to secure it. A boat 
returned for him, but found his bloody corpse instead. 
His skull was crushed as by a blow from behind ; there 
was no money on his person. Another man was found 
on board, but unhurt, wdio professed ignorance of lii& 



165 

fellow. This person was the watchman, and it is sjiid 
that he carried ashore a large amount of money. He 
was arrested on suspicion, but there was no proof. 
He still lives on the river, but the cause of poor Dyer's 
death will probably never be known until the Great 
Assize. 



'm^ 



166 




Captain John NeWland Maffitt. 

Maffitt's Experience. 



^(i[vE conclude our blockade-runner's reminiscences 
with a few extracts from his " Tales of the Cape Pear 
Blockade," published originally in the " Southport 
Leader." 

[Experiences of Captain John Newland Maffitt, 
C. 8. N., in running the blockade at Wilmington.] 

*• We are ready to depart ; friends bid us farewell 



167 

with lugubrious indulgence of fears for our safety, 
as the hazards of blockade-running had recently 
increased in consequence of the accumulated force 
and vigilance of the enemy. Discarding all gloomy 
prognostications, at dusk we left the harbor of Nassau. 
Before break of day Abaco light was sighted, a place 
of especial interest to Federal cruisers as the turning- 
point for blockade-runners. At the first blush of day 
we were startled by the close proximity of three 
American men-of-war. Not the lea at obeisance made 
they, but with shot and shell paid the early compli- 
ments of the mornincj. 

" The splintering spars and damaged bulwarks 
warned us of the necessity for traveling, particularly 
as nine hundred barrels of gun -powder constituted a 
portion of our cargo. A chance shell exploding in the 
hold would have consigned steamer and all hands to 
Tophet. We were in capital running condition and 
soon passed out of range. Tenaciously our pursuers 
held on to the chase, though it was evident that the 
fleet Confederate experienced no difficulty in giving 
them the go-by. In the zenith of our enjoyment of a 
refreshing sense of relief, the old cry of ''sail ho"! 
came from aloft. The look-out announced two 
steamers ahead and standing for us. A system of 
zigzag running became necessary to elude the per- 



168 

sistent enemy. (3ur speed soon accomplished this 
object. In about three hours the Federals faded under 
the horizon, and our proper course for the Cape Fear 
was resumed. Those who needed repose retired for 
the indulgence. My relaxation from official cares was 
of brief duration, as a gruff voice called out: " Captain, 
a burning vessel reported aloft, sir." Repairing on 
deck, by the aid of a spy-glass I could distinctly see, 
some four miles ahead, a vessel enveloped in smoke. 
Though not ourselves the subjects of charity, never- 
theless we were human, and as seamen cherished the 
liveliest sympathy for the unfortunate who came to 
grief on God's watery highway. Regardless of per- 
sonal interest, your true Jack Tar scorns the roll of 
Pharisee and prides himself upon the Samaritan pro- 
clivities that fail not to succor the sufferer by the 
wayside. 

' Increasing our speed, we quickly ran quite near to 
the burning vessel. She proved to be a Spanish barque, 
with ensign at half-mast. (Int of her fore hatch arose 
a dense smoke. Abaft were clustered a panic-stricken 
group of passengers and crew. Among them several 
ladies were observed An inefi'ectual effort had been 
made to hoist out the long boat, which was still sus- 
pended by the yard^arni stay tackles. 



169 

'' Sending an officer aloft to keep a sharp look-out that 
we might not be surprised by the enemy while 
succoring the unfortunate, the chief mate was dis- 
patched in the cutter to render such assistance as his 
professional intelligence might suggest. He found the 
few passengers, among whom were four ladies, much 
calmer than the officers and crew; the latter, in place 
of endeavoring to extinguish the fire, which had broken 
out in the forecastle compartment, were confusedly 
hauling upon the stay-tackJe in a vain effort to launch 
the long boat. Our mate, with his boat's crew, passed 
the jabbering, panic-stricken Spaniards, and proceeded 
at once to the forecastle, which he instantly deluged 
with water, and to the astonishment of all hands, 
speedily subdued the trifling conflagration, which 
proved to have resulted from the burning of a quantity 
of lamp-rags that had probably been set on fire by one 
of the crew, who carelessly emptied his pipe when 
about to repair on deck. The quantity of old duds that 
lay scattered about Jack's luxuriously furnished apart- 
ment supplied abundant material for raising a dense 
smoke, but the rough construction of the vessel in this 
locality fortunately ottered nothing inflammable, and 
the great sensation, under the influence of a cool head, 
soon subsided into a farce. 

"The mate, who was much of a wag, enjoyed the 



to 



170 

general perturbation of the passengers, particularly on 
ascertaining that three of the ladies hailed from 
Marblehead, and were returning from a visit to an 
uncle who owned a well- stocked sugar plantation near 
Sagua Le Grande, in Cuba. A Spanish vessel bound 
to Halifax had been selected to convey them to a 
British port convenient for transportation to New York 
or Boston, without risk of being captured by Confed- 
erate buccaneers, whom, according to Cuban rumors^ 
swarmed over the ocean and were decidedly anthro- 
pophageous in their proclivities. 

" A hail from the steamer caused our mate to make 
his adieus, but not before announcing himself as one 
of the awful Southern slave-holders they had in con- 
versation anathematized. They could not believe that 
so kind and polite a gentleman could possibly be a 
wicked 'rebel.' ' But I am, ladies, and also a slave- 
owner, as is your uncle — farewell.' Instead of mani- 
festing anger at the retort, they laughed heartily and 
waved their handkerchiefs in kind adieu, utterly unsus- 
picious of having received kindness and courtesy from 
a blockade -runner. We made the best of speed on 
our way to Wilmington. 

The following day, our last at sea, proved undis- 
turbed and pleasant. At sunset the bar bore west- 
northwest seventy miles distant. It would be high 



171 

at half-past eleven, the proper time for crossing. Sixty 
miles I determined to dash off at full speed, and then 
run slowly for disentangling ourselves from the fleet. 
"None but the experienced can appreciate the difficul- 
ties that perplexed the navigator in running for South- 
ern harbors during tlie war, Tlie usual facilities ren- 
dered by the light houses and beacons had ceased to 
exist, having been dispensed with by the Confederate 
Government as dangerous abettors of contemplated 
mischief by the blockaders. 

"Success in making the destined harbors depended 
upon exact navigation, a knowledge of the coast, itssur* 
roundings and currents, a fearless approach, and banish- 
ment of the subtle society of John Barleycorn. Non- 
exx^erts too often came to grief, as the many hulks on 
the Carolina coast most sadly attest.^ 

"Under a pressure of steam we rushed ahead, annihi- 
lating space and melting with excited fancy hours into 
minutes. Our celerity shortens the distance, leaving 



*Captain Maffitt's reference to the necessity of exact navigation on the 
part of masters of blockade runners during the war, recalls to us a story 
told by Mark Stevenson, one of the signal corps boys, about a wonderful 
landfall made in the "Boston" by an oM friend and shipmate. Captain 
John W. Carrow, who said that his meridian observation made him a few 
miles to the westward of Raleigh, and that while he was trying to reach 
the capital, a yankee came along and picked him up. J. S. 



172 

only ten miles between us and the bar. With guiding 
lead, slowly and carefully we feel our way. 

" 'Captain.' observed the sedulous chief officer, as he 
strove to peer through the hazy atmos])here, 'it seems 
to me from our soundings that we should be very near 
the blockaders. Don't you think so' ? 

"'I do, was my response. 'Hist'! there goes a 
bell — one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, half-past 
eleven—a decidedly good calculation, and it is high 
water on the bar. By jove ! there are two directly 
ahead of us, and I think both are at anchor. Doubtless 
others are cruising around these indicators of the 
channel.' 

" I ordered the helm put hard a-starboard, directing 
the wheelman to run between the two blockaders, as it 
was too late to sheer clear of either. Through a bank 
of clouds huge grim objects grew distinctly into view 
and necessity forced me to run the gauntlet, trusting 
against hope that our transit would not arouse their 
vigilance. They w^ere alert vessels, for a sparkling^ 
hissing sound was instantly followed by the fiery train 
of a rocket, succeeded by the dreadful calcium lights 
with a radiance brilliant, though brief, as to illuminate 
distinctly an area of miles, 

" ' Heave to, or I'll sink you ' I shouted a gruff, impe- 
rious voice, so near that we could fancy his sx^^^^"^i^g' 



trumpet projected over the steamer. 'Ay, ay^ sir' ! was 
the prompt response, and to the horror of all on board, 
I gave the order in a loud tone : ' Stop the engine' ! 

" Then was heard the boatswain's whistle, the calling 
away of cutters and the tramping of boat's crews. Our 
impetus had caused the steamer to nearly emerge from 
between the Federals. 

"Back your engines, sir, and stand by to receive 
my boats,' said the same stern voice. Affirmatively 
acknowledging the command, I whispered loud enough 
for the engineer to hear me : ' Full speed ahead, sir, 
and open wide your throttle valve.' The movements of 
th« paddles for a moment deceived the Federal Com- 
mander into the belief that we were really backing, but 
speedily comprehending the manoeuvre, with very fierce 
execrations, he gave the order to fire. Drummond 
lights were burned, doubtless to aid the artillerists, but 
so radiated the mist as to raise our hull above the line 
of vision, causing the destructive missiles to play havoc 
with the sparse rigging instead of shattering our hull 
and probably exploding the nine hundred barrels of gun- 
powder with which General Johnston afterwards fought 
the battle of Shiloh. It certainly was a miraculous 
escape for both blockader and blockade-runner. We 
paused not recklessly, but at the rate of 16 knots an 
hour absolutely flew out of the unhealthy company who 



174 

discourteously followed us with exploding shells and 
for some time kept up such a fusillade as to impress us 
with the belief that the blockaders had inaugurated a 
' kilkenny cat muddle,' and were polishing off each other, 
a supposition I subsequently learned was partially 

correct. 

''The breakers warned us of danger, and the smooth 
water indicated the channel, through which we passed 
in safety, and at one o'clock in the morning we anchored 
off the venerable village of Smithville (now Southport). 
Then came the mental and physical reaction, producing 
a feeling of great prostration, relieved by the delightful 
realization of having passed through the tiery ordeal in 
safety and freedom. 

' If after every tempest came such calms, 
May the winds blow till they have weakened death, 
And let the laboring barks climb hills of seas 
Olympus high ! and duck again as low 
As hell's from heaven.' 

" After sunrise we proceeded in all haste to Wilming- 
ton, where our cargo was quickly discharged. Having 
obtained our return cargo, in company with two other 
blockade runners, I started for Nassau, and although 
the sentinels of the bar presented me with affectionate 
souvenirs in the way of shot and shell, they did but lit- 
tle damage. My companions came to grief, thereby 



175 

adding to the prize fund tliat was shared by the Govern- 
ment with th(^ officers of the blockade squadron." 

Mrs. Maffitt adds: ''On the 10th of May, 1862, 
Captain Maffitt arrived in Nassan on the steamer 
'Gordon,' and was there presented with a communica- 
tion from Captain Hiillock, Confederate Navy Agent in 
Enrope, requesting him to take immediate charge of the 
gunboat 'Oreto,' afterwards christened the 'Florida,' 
which he had dispatched to Nassau, and hasten to sea. 
Fully appreciating the necessity for prompt action, 
Captain Maffitt surrendered the 'Gordon' and took 
charge of the 'Oreto,' being confirmed in the command 
by the Secretary of the Navy. He retained command 
of the 'Fiorida' until April or June of 1864, when the 
state of his health comx^eiled him to apply for detach- 
ment, which being granted. Captain Barney became his 
successor. At this time the 'Florida' had been run into 
the harbor of Brest, France, for needed repairs. Captain 
Maffitt writes: 'The demand on my physical ability 
liad been excessive, nor liad I entirely recovered from 
the effects of yellow fever, which still clung to me, and 
was militating against my general usefulness. Consult- 
ing a distinguished physician in Paris, he pronounced 
my heart affected by tropical disease, and after putting 
me through a course of severe treatment, started me off 
for Sweden, not to rest, but to travel for my health." 



176 

Shortly afterwards Captain MafRtt went to England, 
took command of a blockade-runner, " Lilian,'' of which 
Mr. James Sprunt, the compiler of these notes, was the 
purser, and returned to the Confederacy through the 
X)ort of Wilmington. He was then ordered to relieve 
Captain Cooke at Plymouth, N. C, from the command 
of the ''Albemarle," which had been so wonderfully 
constructed and gallantly handled by Captain Cooke in 
the attack on the "Southfield" and ''Miami." Prom 
this duty Captain MafRtt was soon relieved and ordered 
to the command of the "Owl," one of the blockade- 
runners purchased from England by the Government. 
The 21st of December, 1864, found him on board the 
"Owl" at Wilmington, receiving her cargo of 750 bales 
of cotton. With three other blockade-runners in com- 
pany, he started for the bar. He escaped the Federal 
sentinels "without the loss of a roxje-ynrn," though one 
of his companions came to grief through an accident to 
machinery. Their destination was St. George, Bermuda, 
w^hich they reached in safety, finding several steamers 
loaded and anxiously awaiting news from the Federal 
expedition under General Butler against Fort Fisher. 
Through a Halifax steamer, the Northern papers apprised 
them of the failure of the expedition, and in company 
with six other steamers and many gallant spirits, thtf 



177 

^^Owl" started on her return to Dixie, all cheered by 
the (to them) joyful news. 

Jn the meantime another expedition against Fort 
Fisher had been fitted out under General Terry and 
Admiral Porter, which had been successful, and the 
river was in })Ossession of the Federals. 

Communicating with Lockwood's Folly, where they 
reported all quiet and Fislier intact, Captain Maffitt 
steamed for the Cape Fear. At eight o'clock it was 
high water on the bar, and the moon would not rise 
before eleven. Approaching the channel, he was sur- 
prised to see but one sentinel guarding the entrance. 
Eluding him, he passed in. Some apprehension was 
excited by a conflagration at Bald Head and non-response 
to his signals, but as Fort Caswell looked natural and 
quiet, he decided to anchor off the Fort wharf. He was 
immediately interviewed by the Chief of Ordnance and 
Artillery, E. S. Martin, and another officer, who informed 
him of the state of affairs and that the train was already 
laid for blowing up Fort CaswelL^. Gunboats were 
approaching, and in great distress Captain Maffitt hastily 
departed. The solitary blockader pursued him furi- 
ously for some time, and far at sea he heard the 
explosion that announced the fate of Caswell. As his 
cargo was important and much needed. Captain Maffitt 
determined to make an effort to enter the port of 



178 

Charleston, although he had been informed that it was 
more closely guarded than ever beiore. 

The rest of the story is told in Captain Maffitt's 
inimitable style : 

"The history of the live steamers in whose company I 
sailed from the harbor of St. George's is briefly told. 
Captain Wilkinson, the late gallant commander of the 
'Chickamaiiga,' was too experienced and keen a cruiser 
to be caught in a trap. Convinced from observation 
that there was 'something rotten in the State of Den- 
mark,' he judiciously returned to Bermuda. The re- 
maining three were decoyed into New Inlet by the contin- 
uance of the Mound Light, and became easy prey under 
the following circumstances: First, the 'Stag,' with 
several English officers on board as passengers, deceived 
by Admiral Porter's cuteness, crossed the bar, and, as 
was customary, anchored under the mound, there to 
abide the usual visit of inspection of the boarding officer 
of Fort Fisher. Waiting some little time without 
receiving the official call, the Captain naturally con- 
cluded it had been deferred until daylight. He there- 
fore directed the steward to serve the entertainment 
that had been elaborately prex)ared to celebrate their 
safe arrival in the Confederacy. The gastronomic 
hidalgo flourished his baton of office and escorted his 
guests to the festive board. In shouts of revelry and 



179 

with flowing bumpers, the joc/nnd party Luzizahed for 
Dixie, and sang her praises in songs of adulation that 
made the welkin ring, and aroused the sea mews from 
their ijeaceful slumbers. A pause from exhaustion having 
occurred in their labor of justice to the luxurious repast 
gave to an English captain a desired opportunity to 
ventilate in appropriate sentiments his appreciation of 
the joyful occasion. Mysteriously rapping to enjoin 
attention, in the silence that followed, he solemnly 
arose. At a wave of his dexter, the steward, all alert- 
ness, replenished the glasses. 

"'Gentlemen,' said the captain, 'after a successful 
voyage, fraught with interesting incidents and excite- 
ments, we have anchored upon the soil of battle-worn, 
grand old Dixie. We come, not as mercenary adven- 
turers, to enlist under the banner of the Confederacy, 
but, like true knights errant, to join as honorable vol- 
unteers, the standard of the bravest lance in Christen- 
dom, that of the noble, peerless Lee (cheers, hear, hear). 
In gaining this Palestine of our chivalrous aspirations 
we have successfully encountered the more than ordi 
nary perils of the sea, in storm, the lingering chase, and 
hazards of the blockade. Through all vicissitudes there 
was a mind to conceive, a hand to guide, a courage to 
execute. CTentlemen, I propose the health and happiness 



180 

and speedy promotion of the officer who merits these 
commendations— our worthy commander.' 

^'Mingled with vociferons applanse, came the cus- 
tomary hip! hip! hnzzah ! hip! hip! huz— 

"The half uttered huzzah froze like an icicle on the 
petrified lips of the orator, who 

•With wild surprise, 
As if to marble stuck, devoid of sense, 
A stupid moment, motionless stood,' 

as the apparition of a Federal midshipman appeared 
upon the cabin stairway. 

" ' Who commands this steamer? ' was the Federal's 

interrogatory. 

"' I am that unhappy individual,' groaned the com- 
mander, as reminiscences of a long confinement came 
X)ainfully to his mind. 

" ' You are a prize to Admiral Porter's squadron, and 
I relieve you of all further responsibility. Gentlemen, 
as parolled prisoners, you are at liberty to finish your 
rejjast/ 

'• The withering enunciation of capture blighted like a 
black frost the hopeful blossoms that had, under the 
inspiring influence of the sparkling Epernay, bubbled 
into X)oetic existence. One by one the lights soon faded 
in this banquet hall deserted, their last glimmer, falling 



181 

mournfully on the debris of the unfinished congratula- 
tory repast. 

"Ere an hour elapsed two more unfortunates, lured 
by the channel lights, entered and likewise anchored off 
the mound, and became a prey to Admiral Porter's fleet. 

"My cargo being important, and the capture of Fort 
Fisher and Cape Fear cutting me off from Wilmington, 
I deemed it my duty to make an effort to enter the 
harbor of Charleston, in order to deliver the much- 
needed supplies. 

"I had been informed that the blockade of that port 
was more stringently and numerically guarded than ever 
before since the inauguration of hostilities. The 'Owl's' 
speed was now accommodated to the necessary time of 
arriving off the bar, which was 10 p. m. Throughout 
the day vigilant steamers were seen along the shore 
inspecting inlets and coves regardless of their want of 
capacity for blockade purposes. This spirit of inspec- 
tion and watchfulness was most assiduous, as if an order 
had been issued to overhaul even the coast gallinipers 
to see that aid and comfort in the shape of muskets and 
pistols were not smuggled into the needy Confederacy. 
Occasionally one of these constables of the sea would 
fire up and make a dash after the 'Owl'; a little more 
coal and stirring up of the fire-draft was sufiicient to 
start the blockade- runner off with such admirable speed 



182 

as to convince the Federal that he was after the fleetest 
steamer that ever eluded the guardians of the channel- 
ways. 

" Seasonably making the passage, 9 o'clock, P. M., 
found us not far from the mouth of MafRtt's channel. 
Anticipating a trying niglit and the bare possibility of 
capture, two bags were slung and suspended over the 
quarter by a stout line. In these bags were placed the 
Grovernment mail not yet delivered, all private corres- 
pondence, and my war journal, including the cruise of 
the 'Florida,' besides many other papers. An intelli- 
gent quarter- master was ordered to stand by the bags 
with a hatchet, and the moment capture became inevita- 
ble, to cut adrift and let them sink. 

"When on the western tail-end of Rattlesnake Shoal, 
we encountered streaks of mist and fog that enveloped 
stars and everything for a few moments, wdien it would 
become quite clear again. Running cautiously in one of 
these obscurations, a sudden lift in tlie haze disclosed 
that we were about to run into an anchored blockader. 
We had bare room with a hard-aport helm to avoid him 
some fifteen or twenty feet, when their officer on deck 
called out: 'Heave to, or I'll sink you'! The order 
was unnoticed, and we received his entire broadside, that 
cut away turtle-back, perforated forecastle and tore up 
bulwarks in front of our engine-room, wounding twelve 



183 



men, some severely, some slightly. The quarter-master 
stationed by the mail-bags was so convinced that we 
were captured that he instantly used his hatchet, and 
sent them, well moored, to the bottom. Hence my 
meagre account of the cruise of the 'Florida.' Rockets 
were fired as we passed swiftly out of his range of sight, 
and drummond lights lit up the animated surroundings 
of a swarm of blockaders, who commenced an indis- 
criminate discharge of artillery. We could not under- 
stand the reason of this bombardment, and as we picked 
our way out of the melee, concluded that several block- 
ade-runners must have been discovered feeling their way 
into Charleston. 

"After the war, in conversing with the officer command- 
ing on that occasion, he said that a number of the 
steamers of the blockade were commanded by inexperi- 
enced volunteer officers, who were sometimes over- 
zealous and excitable, and hearing the gun-boat firing 
into me, and seeing her rockets and signal lights, they 
thought that innumerable blockade-runners were forcing 
a passage into the harbor, hence the indiscriminate 
discharge of artillery, which was attended with uufor- 
tunate results to them. This was my last belligerent 
association with blockade-running. Entering the harbor 
of Charleston, and finding it in the possession of Federals, 



184 

I promptly checked progress and retreated. The last 
order issued by the Navy Department, when all hope for 
rhe cause had departed, was for me to deliver the 'Owl' 
to Frazier, Trenholme & Co., in Liverpool, which I 
accordingly did." 



The Blockade Runner " Don. 



(f^NE of the most distinguished Commanders of the 
blockade running steamers was Captain Roberts (so- 
called) of the twin screw steamer "Don," a quick, 
handy little boat, admirably adapted to the trade. I 
had the pleasure of knowing him personally through 
frequent intercourse with his signal officer, a fine 
young felloAv, named Selden, from Virginia, and we 
were much impressed w4th the superior bearing and 
intelligence of this remarkable man, who afterwards 
became famous in the war between Russia and Turkey 
as Hobart Pasha, Admiral-in-Chief of the Turkish 
Navy. 

" Captain Roberts" was really the Honorable Augus- 
tus Charles Hobart Hampden (son of the Earl of Buck- 
inghamshire), Post Captain in the Royal Navy, 
and for a time Commander of Qaeen Victoria's yacht 
" Victoiia and Albert." He had seen service in the 



185 

war between Emperor Nicholas, France and Great 
Britain in 1854, under the great Admiral Sir Charles 
Napier, when he commanded H. M. S. "Driver," and 
after the general order "Lads sharpen your cutlasses" 
boarded the Russian warships before Cronstadt, stormed 
the seven forts which guarded the entrance to that 
harbor, and sailed up the Neva even to St. Petersburg 
itself. Having made- several runs into Wilmington 
during his absence from England on leave, he returned 
home, and, fretting under the dull routine of service 
ashore, accepted the command of the entire Turkish 
Nav}^ at the outbreak of the war with his old antago- 
nists, the Russians. He died in 1886 Admiral-in -Chief 
of the Turkish Navy, and was buried in the English 
cemetery at Scutari. Following is his own account of 
adventures in blockade-running to Wilmington : 

*' We left the quay at Wilmington cheered by the 
hurrahs of our brother blockade -runners, who were 
taking in and discharging their cargoes, and steamed 
a short distance down the river, when we were boarded 
to be searched and smoked. This latter extraordinary 
proceeding, called for perhaps by the existing state of 
affairs, took me altogether aback. That a smoking 
apparatus should be applied to a cargo of cotton seemed 
almost astounding. But so it was ordered, the object 
being to search for runaways, and strange to say, its 



186 

efficacy was apparent, when, after an hour or more 
application of the process (which was by no means a 
gentle one) an unfortunate wretch, crushed almost to 
death by the closeness of his hiding-place, poked with 
a long stick till his ribs must have been like touch- 
wood, and smoked the color of a backwood Indian, 
was dragged by the heels into the daylight, ignomin- 
iously put into irons and hurled into the guard-boat. 
This discovery nearly caused the detention of the 
vessel on suspicion of our being the accomplices of the 
runaway; but after some deliberation we were allowed 
to go on. 

'' Havino^ steamed down the river a distance of about 
twenty miles, we anchored at two o'clock in the after- 
noon near its mouth. We were hidden by Fort Fisher 
from the blockading squadron lying off the bar, there 
to remain till some time after nightfall. After anchor- 
ing we went on shore to take a peep at the enemy from 
the batteries. Its commandant, a fine, dashing young 
Confederate officer (Colonel Lamb), who was a firm 
friend to blockade-runners, accompanied us round the 
fort. We counted twenty -five vessels under weigh ;. 
some of them occasionally ventured within range ; but 
no sooner had one of them done so than a shot was 
thrown so unpleasantly near that she at once moved 
out again. 



187 

^* We were much struck with the weakness of Fort 
Fisher, which, with a garrison of twelve hundred men^ 
and only half finished, could have been easily taken 
at any time since the war began by a resolute body of 
five thousand men making a night attack. It is true 
that at the time of its capture it was somewhat stronger 
than at the time I visited it. but even then its o^arrison 
was comparatively small and its defences unfinished. 
I fancy the bold front so long shown by its occupiers 
had much to do with the fact that such an attack was 
not attempted till just before the close of the war. 
The time chosen for our starting was eleven o'clock, at 
which hour the tide was at its highest on the bar at 
the entrance of the river. Fortunately the moon set 
abont ten, and as it w-as very cloudy, we had every 
reason to expect a pitch-dark night. There w^ere two 
or three causes that made one rather more nervous on 
this occasion than when leaving Bermuda. 

" In the first place, five minutes after we had crossed 
the bar vve should be in the thick of the blockaders, 
who always closed nearer in on the very dark nights. 
Secondly, our cargo of cotton was of more importance 
than the goods we had carried in; and thirdly, it was 
the thing to do to make the double trip in and out 
safely. There were also all manner of reports of the 
new plans that had been arranged by a zealous Corn- 



188 

modore lately sent from New York to catch us all. 
However, it was of do use canvassing these questions, 
so at a quarter to eleven we weighed anchor and 
steamed down to the entrance of the river. 

" Very faint lights, which could not be seen far at 
sea, were set on the beach in the same position as I 
have before described, having been thus placed for a 
vessel coming in; and bringing these astern in an exact 
line, that is, the two into one, we knew that we were 
in the passage for going over the bar. The order was 
then given: ' Full speed ahead,' and we shot at a great 
speed out to sea. 

"Our troubles began almost immediately; for the 
cruisers had placiod a rowing barge, which could not be 
seen by the forts, close to the entrance, to signalize the 
direction which any vessel that came out might take. 
This was done by rockets being thrown up by a 
designed plan from the barge. We had hardly cleared 
the bar when we saw this boat very near our bows, 
nicely placed to be run clean over, and as we were 
going about fourteen knots, her chance of escape would 
have been small had we been inclined to finish her. 
Changing the helm, which I did myself, a couple of 
spokes just took us clear. We passed so close that I 
could have dropped a biscuit into the boat with ease. 



189 

I heard the crash of broken oars against oar sides; not 
a word was spoken. 

*' 1 strongly suspect every man in that boat held his 
breath till the great white avalanche of cotton, rushing 
by so unpleasantly near, had passed quite clear of her. 

*' However, they seemed very soon to have recovered 
themselves, for a minute had scarcely passed before up 
went a rocket, which I thought a very ungrateful 
proceeding on their part. But they only did their duty, 
and perhaps they did not know how nearly they had 
escaped being made food for fishes. On the rocket 
being thrown up, a gun was fired uncommonly close to 
us. but as we did not hear any shot, it may have been 
only a signal to the cruisers to keep a sharp lookout. 

" We steer<^d a mile or two near the coast, always 
edging a little to the eastward, and then shaped our 
course straight out to sea. Several guns were fired in 
the pitch- darkness very near us. (I am not quite sure 
whether some of the blockaders did not occasionally 
pepper each other.) After an hour's fast steaming 
we felt mode^^ately safe, and by the morning had a good 
ofiing. 

" Daylight broke with thick, hazy weather, nothing 
being in sight. We went all right till half- past eight 
o'clock, when the weather cleared up, and there was a 
large paddle-wheel cruiser (that we must have passed 



190 

very near to in the thick weather) about six miles 
astern of us. The moment she saw us she gave chase. 
After running for a quarter of an hour it was evident 
that, with our heavy cargo on board, the cruiser had 
the legs of us, and as there was a long day before us 
for the chase, things looked badly. We moved some 
cotton aft to imaierse our screws well; but still the 
cruiser was steadily decreasing her distance from us, 
when an incident of a very curious nature favored us 
for a time. 

"It is mentioned in the book of sailing directions 
that the course of the gulf stream (in the vicinity of 
which we knew we were) is in calm weather and smooth 
water plainly marked out by a ripple on its inner and 
outer edges. We clearly saw, about a mile ahead of 
us, a remarkable ripple, which we rightly, as it turned 
out, conjectured was that referred to in the book. As 
soon as we had crossed it we steered the usual course 
of the current of the Gulf Stream, that here ran from 
two to three miles an hour. Seeing us alter our course, 
the cruiser did the same; but she had not crossed the 
ripple on the edge of the stream, and the course she 
was now steering tended to keep her for some time 
from doing so. The result soon made it evident that 
the observations in the book were correct; for until she, 
too, crossed the ripple into the stream, we dropped her 



191 

rapidly astern, whereby we increased oar distance to at 
least seven miles. 

" It was now noon, from which time the enemy again 
began to close with ns, and at five o'clock was not more 
than three miles distant. At six o'clock she opened a 
harmless fire with the Parrott gun in her bow, the shot 
falling far short of us. The sun set at a quarter to 
seven, by which time she had got so near that she 
managed to send two or three shots over us, and was 
steadily coming up. 

" Luckily, as night came on, the weather became very 
cloudy, and we were on the dark side of the moon, now 
setting in the West, which occasionally breaking 
through the clouds astern of the cruiser, showed us all 
her movements, while we must have been very difficult 
to make out, though certainly not more than a mile off. 
All this time she kept firing away, thinking, I suppose, 
that she would frighten us into stopping. If we had 
gone straight on, we should doubtless have been caught, 
so we altered our course two points to the eastward. 
After steaming a short distance, we stopped quite still, 
blowing off steam under water, not a spark or the 
slio-htest smoke showinor from the funnel; and we had 
the indescribable satisfaction of seeing our enemy st(^ara 
past us, still firing ahead at some imaginary vessel. 



192 

" This had been a raost exciting chase and a very 
narrow escape; night only saved us from a New York 
prison. All this hard running had made an awful hole 
in our coal-bunkers, and as it was necessary to keep 
a stock for a run off the Bahama Islands, we were 
obliged to reduce our expenditure to as small a 
quantity as possible. However, we were well out 
to sea, and after having passed the line of cruisers 
between Wilmington and Bermuda, we had not 
much to fear until we approached the British 
possessions of Nassau and the adjacent Islands, 
where two or three very fast American vessels were 
cruising, although five hundred miles from American 
waters. I am ignorant, I confess, of the laws of block- 
ade, or indeed if a law there be that allows its enforce- 
ment and penalties to be enacted, five hundred miles 
away from the ports blockaded. But it did seem strang'e 
that the men-of-war of a nation at peace with England 
should be allowed to cruise off her ports to stop and 
examine trading vessels of all descriptions, to capture 
and send to New York, for adjudication vessels on the 
mere suspicion of their being intended blockade-run- 
ners; and to chase and fire into real blockade- runners 
so near to the shore that on one occasion the shot and 
shell fell into a fishing village, and that within sight of 
an English man-of-war lying* at anchor in the ha^rbor at 



193 

Nassau. Surely it is time that some well-understood 
laws should be made, and rules laid down, or such doings 
will sooner or later recoil on their authors. 

''Having* so little coal on board, we determined on 
making* for the nearest point on the Bahama Islands, 
and luckily reached a queer little island called Green 
Turtle Quay, on the extreme North of the group, where 
Was a small English colony, without being seen by the 
cruisers. We had not been there long, however, before 
one of them came sweeping round the shore and stopped 
Unpleasantly near to us^ even though we were inside 
the rock^ she hovered about outside, not a mile from us. 

" We were a tempting bait, but a considerable risk to 
snap, and I suppose the American captain could not 
quite make up his mind to capture a vessel (albeit a 
blockade-runner piped full of cotton) lying in an Eng- 
lish port, insignificant though that port might be. We 
had got a large white English ensign hoisted on a pole, 
thereby showing the nationality of the rock, should the 
t3ruiser be inclined to question it. After many longing 
looks she steamed slowly away, much to our satisfac- 
tion. Coals were sent to us from Nassau the next day, 
which having been taken on board, we weiglied anchor, 
•keeping close to the reefs and islands all the way. We 
steamed towards that port, and arrived safeh% having 



194 

made the in-and-out voyag-e, including' the time in un- 
loading and loading- at Wilmington, in sixteen days. 

"To attemj)t to describe at leng-th the state of thing's 
at this unusually tranquil and unfrequented little spot 
is beyond my powers. I will only mention some of its 
most striking' features. Nassau differed much from 
Wilmington, inasmuch as at the latter place there was 
a considerable amount of poverty and distress, and 
men's minds were weighed with many troubles and 
anxieties; whereas at Nassau everything' at the time 
I speak of was couleur de rose Every one seemed 
prosperous and happy. You met with calculating", far- 
seeing men who were steadily employed in feathering 
their nests, let the war in America end as it mig'ht; 
others, who, in the height of enthusiasm for the South- 
ern cause, put their last farthing- into Confederate se- 
curities, anticipating' enormous profits; some men, care- 
less and thoughtless, living' for the hour, were spending' 
their dollars as fast as they made them, forg*etting' that 
they 'would never see the like again. "^ There were rol- 
licking captains and officers of blockade-runners, and 
drunken, swagg'ering* crews; sharpers looking' out for 
victims; Yankee spies and insolent, worthless free 
nigg'ers — all these combined made amostheterogeneous, 
though interesting., crowd. 



195 

^'The inhabitants of Nassau, who, until the period of 
blockade-running, had, with some exceptions, subsisted 
on a precarious and somewhat questionable liveli- 
hood gained by wrecking, had their heads as much 
turned as the rest of the world. Living was exorbi- 
tantly dear, as can Well be imagined, when the captain 
of a blockade-runner could realize in a month a sum as 
large as the Governor's salary. The expense of living 
was so great that the officers of the West India resi- 
ment quartered here had to apply for special allowance, 
and I believe their application was successful. The 
hotel, a large building, hitherto a most ruinous specu- 
lation, began to realize enormous profits. In fact, the 
almighty dollar was spent as freely as the humble cent 
had been before this golden era in the annals of Nassau* 

''As we had to stay here till the time for the dark 
nights came round again, we took it easy, and thor- 
oughly enjoyed all the novelty of the scene. Most lib- 
eral entertainment was provided free by our owner's 
agent, and altogether we fouuvd Nassau very jolly; so 
much so that we felt almost sorry when 'time' was called, 
and we had to prepare for another I'un. In fact, it 
was pleasanter in blockade-running to look backwards 
than forwards, especially if one had been so far in o-ood 
luck. 



196 

'' All being ready, we steamed out of Nassau harbor, 
and were soon ag-ain in perilous waters. We had a dis- 
tant chase now and then— a mere child's play to us after 
our experience — and on the third evening- of our voyage 
we were pretty well placed for making' a run through 
the blockading' squadron a« soon as it was dark. As 
the moon rose at twelve o'clock, it was very important 
that we should get into port tefore she threw a light 
upon the subject. 

''Unfortunately, we were oblig'ed to alter our course 
or stop so often to avoid cruisers tlmt we ran our time 
too close; for, as we were g-etting' near to the line of 
blockade, a splendid, three-quarter size moon rose, mak- 
ing everything- as clear as day. Trying' to pass through 
the line of ves3els ahead with such a brig'htlig'ht shining' 
would have been madness; in fa£'t, it was dang'er- 
ous to be moving" about at all in such clear weather^ so 
we steamed towards the land on the extreme left of the 
line of cruisers, and having' luade it out, went quite; 
close inshore and anchored. 

''By lying' as close as we dared to the beach, we must 
have had. the appea.rance of forming' part of the low 
sand hills, which were about the heig'ht and color of the 
vessel, the wood, on their tops forming" a ba>ckgTound« 
which hid the small amount of funnel and mast that 
showed above the decks. We nuist liiive been nearly 



197 

iiivii^ible^ for we had scarcely been an hour at anchor^ 
when a o'an-boat came steaming along* the shore very 
near to the beach; and while we were breathlessly 
watching her, hoping she would go past, she dropped, 
anchor alongside of us, a little outside where we were 
lying — -so close that we not only heard every order that 
was given on board, but could almost make out the pur- 
port of the ordinary conversation of the people on her 
decks. A pistol shot would have easily reached us. 
Our position was most unpleasant, to say the least of it. 
We could not stay where we were, as it only wanted 
two hours to daybreak. If we had attempted to weigh 
anchor, we must have been heard doing so. However, 
we had sufficient steam at command to make a run for 
it. So, after waiting a little to allow the cruiser's fires 
to get low, we knocked the pin out of the shackle of the 
chain on deck, and easing the cable down into the water, 
went ahead with one engine and astern with the other, 
to turn our vessel round head to seaward. 

''Imagine our consternation when, as she turned, she 
struck the shore before coming half round (she had 
been lying with her head inshore, so now it was pointed 
along the beach, luckily in the right direction, i. e., 
lying from the cruiser). There was nothing left to us 
but to put on full speed, and if possible force her from 



198 

the obstruction, which after two or three hard biimpt^ 
we succeeded in doing. 

''After steaming quite close to the beach for a little 
way, we stopped to watch the gun- boat, which, after 
resting for an hour or so, weighed anchor and steamed 
along the beach in the opposite direction to the way we 
had been steering, and was soon out of sight. So we 
steamed a short distance inshore and anchored again. 
It would have been certain capture to have gone out to 
sea just before daybreak, so we made the little craft as 
invisible as possible, and remained all the next day, 
trusting to our luck not to be seen. And our luck fa- 
vored us, for although we saw several cruisers at a dis- 
tance, none noticed us, which seems almost miraculous. 

''Thus passed Christmas day, 1863, and an anxious day 
it was to all of us. We might have landed our cargo 
where we were lying but it would have been landed in 
a dismal swamp, and we would have been obliged to go 
into Wilmington for our cargo of cotton. 

"When night closed in we weighed anchor and steamed 
to the entrance of the river, which, from, our position 
being so well defined, we had no difficulty in making- 
out. We received a broadside from a savage little gun- 
boat quite close in shore, her shot passing over us, 
and that was all. We got comfortably to the anchoi'age 



199 

about half-past eleven o'clock, and so ended our second 
journey in. 

"It is not my intention to inflict on my readers any 
more anecdotes of my doings in the D — n, suffice it to 
say that I had the good luck to make six round trips in 
her, in and out of Wilmington, and that I gave her over 
to the chief officer and went home to England with my 
spoils. 

"On arriving at Southampton, the first thing I saw 
in the 'Times' was a paragraph headed 'The capture of 

the 'D- n.' Poor little craft! I learned afterwards 

how she was taken, which I will relate, and which will 
show that she died game. 

"The officer to whom I gave over charge was as fine 
a specimen of a seaman as can well be imagined, pluck}^ 
cool and determined, and by the way, he was a bit of a 
medico, as well as a sailor; for by his beneficial treat- 
ment of his patients we had very few complaints of 
sickness on board. As our small dispensary was close 
to my cabin I used to hear the conversation that took 

place between C and his patients. I will repeat 

one: 

C. — 'Well, m}-^ man, what^s the matter with you? 

Patient. — 'Please, sir, IVe got pains all over me." 

C. — 'Oh, all over you are the}^; tliat's bad.' 



200 



t 



'Then, during the pause, it was evident Something 
was being mixed up, and I could hear C— say: 'Here, 
tal^e this, and come again in the evening. ' (Exit patient. ) 

''Then C— — said to himself: 'I don't think he'll come 
again; he has got two drops of the croton. Skulking 
rascal, pains all over him, eh V' 

''I never heard the voice of that patient again; in fact, 
after a short time we had no cases of sickness on board, 

uQ__ explained to me that the only medicine he 
served out, as he called it, was croton oil: and that none 
of the crew came twice for treatment. 

''Never having run through the blockade as com- 
mander of a vessel (though he was with me all the time 
and had as much to do with our luck as I had), he was 
naturally very anxious to get safely through. There 
can be no doubt that the vessel had lost much of her 
speed, for she had been very hardly pushed on several 
occasions* This told sadly against her, as the result 

will show. 

"On the third afternoon after leaving Nassau she was 
in a good position for attempting the run when night 
came on. She was moving stealthily about waiting for 
the evening, when suddenly, on the weather, Which had 
been hitherto thick and hazy, clearing up, she saw a 
cruiser unpleasantly near to her, which l)ore down un- 
der steam and sail, and it soon became probable that 



201 

the pcK>r little 'D n's' twin screws would not save 

her this time, well and often as they had done so before. 

"The cruiser, a large, full-rigged corvette, wa^ 
coming up hand over hand, carrying a strong breeze, 

and the days of the 'D n' seemed numbered, when 

C^ — ^ tried a ruse worthy of any of the heroes of naval 
history. 

"The wind, as I said, was very fresh, with a good 
deal of sea running. 

"On came the cruiser till the 'D n' w^as almost 

under her bows, and shortened sail in fine style. The 
moment the men were in the rigging, going aloft to 

furl the sails, C put his plan into execution. He 

turned his craft head to the wind, and steamed de- 
liberately past the corvette at not fifty yards distance. 
She with great way on, went nearly a quarter of a 
mile before she could turn. 

"I have it from good authority that the order was 
not given to the marines on the man-of-war's poop to 
fire at the plucky little craft who had so fairly out- 
manoeuvred the cruiser, for out-manceuvred she was 
to all intents and purposes. 

' 'The two or three guns that had been cast loose 
during the clmse had been partially secured, and left 



202 

so while the men had gone aloft to furl the sails, so 

that not a shot was fired as she went xDast. Shortly 

after she had done so, the cruiser opened fire with 

her bow gains, but with the sea that was running she 

could do no harm, being without any toj) weights. 

"The 'D ^n^ easily dropped the corvette Avitli her 

heavy spars astern, and was soon far ahead, so much 
so that when night came on the cruiser was shut out 
of sight in the darkness. 

"After this the 'D n' deserved escape, but it w^as 

otherwise fated. 

"The next morning when day broke she was within 
three miles of one of the new fast vessels, which had 
come out on her trial trip, flying light, alas! She had 
an opportunity of trying her speed advantageously to 

herself. She snapped up the poor 'D -n' in no time 

and took her to the nearest port. 

"I may mention that the 'D n' and her captain 

were well known and much sought after by the Amer- 
ican cruisers. The first remark that the officer on 
coming aboard her was: 'Well, Captain Koberts, so 
we have caught you at last!' and he seemed much dis- 
appointed when he was told that the captain they so 
particularly wanted went home in the last mail. 



203 

^'Tlie corvette, which had been chased and beaten 
by the 'D— — ^n' the day before, was lying in the port 
into which she was taken. Her captain, when he saw 
the prize said, 'I must go on board and shake hands 
with the gallant fellow who connnands that vessel !' 
and he did so, warmly complimenting C— — on the 
courage he had shown, thus proving that he could ap- 
preciate pluck and that American naval men did not 
look down on blockade-running as a grievous sin, hard 
work as it gave them to x^ut a stop to it. They were 
sometimes a little severe on men who, after having 
been fairly caught in a chase at sea, wantonly de- 
stroyed their compasses, chronometers, etc., rather 
than let them fall into the hands of the cruiser's 
officers. 

"I must say that I was always prepared, had I been 
caught, to have made the best of things, to have given 
the officer who came to take possession all that they 
had fairly gained by luck having declared on their 
side, and to have a farewell glass of champagne with 
the new tenant at the late owner's expense. The 
treatment received by persons captured engaged in 
running the blockade differed very materially. 

"Jf a bona fide American man-of-war of the Old 



204 

School made the ca^jture, they were always treated with 
kindness by their captors. But there were among the 
officers of vessels picked up hurriedly and employed 
by the Government a very rough lot, who rejoiced in 
making their prisoners as uncomfortable as possible. 
They seemed to have only one good quality, and this 
was that there were among them many freemasons, 
and frecxuently a prisoner found the advantage of 
having been initiated into the brotherhood. 

''The 'D n' crew fell into very good hands, and 

till they arrived at New York were comfortable enough ; 
but the short time they spent in prison there, while 
the vessel was undergoing the mockery of a trial in 
the Admiralty Court, was far from pleasant. How- 
ever, it did not last very long — not more than ten days ; 
and as soon as they were free most of them went back 
to Nassau or Bermuda ready for work. 

"C came to England and told me all his 

troubles. Poor fellow! I am afraid his services were 
not half appreciated as they oug'lit to have been, for 
success, in blockade-running-, as in everything else, is 
a virtue, whereas bad luck, even though accompanied 
with pluck of a hero, is always more or less a crime 
not to l>e forgiven." 



Pilots in a Storm 



205 



,E have referred to the hard hfe of these toilers of the 
sea, who often win their bread at the risk of their Hves. 

Before the recent change in the method of boarding 
inward-bound vessels, pilotage business was open to gene- 
ral competition, and as about sixty licensed men depended 
upon their profession for a living, many of them took their 
lives in their hands and cruised in frail boats and heavy 
weather for fifty and a hundred miles at sea, searching 
for vessels in need of their assistance. 

We illustrate some of the hardships to which they were 
exposed by the following thrilling story of the great storm 
in 1877 by Colonel Waddell, which will doubtless be read 
with interest : 

"On April 12tli, 1877, one of the most terrific storms 
that ever visited the North Carolina coast began and lasted 
for three days, culminating on the 15th off Cape Fear. 
It was fearfully destructive to life and property, wrecking 
many ships with their crews and cargoes, and burying 
them beneath the waves. One large three-masted vessel 
broke up and parts of her drifted into Smithville Bay, a 
prize for the wreckers, which not only illustrated the force 
of the storm, but was a curiosity in the strength of its 
structure. 



206 

*• All her bolts," said one who examined pieces of the 
wreck, * are brass, four, six and even eight feet long ; the 
knees are solid iron and the outside planking six inches 
through and of stout pine' ." 

There were two Smithville pilot-boats, the Mary K. 
Sprunt and the Uriah Tiramons, cruising off the coast at 
the time the storm commenced, and finding it impossible 
to make a harbor, they were compelled to stand off and 
try to weather it out. 

The Mary K. Sprunt had a crew of five men, viz: 
Christopher Pinner, Robert Walker, Charles Dosher, Jr., 
Thomas Grissom and Lawrence Gillespie, the cook. They 
were brave and skilful men, but after a desperate struggle, 
in which all that the most skilful seamanship could 
accomplish had been exhausted, she went down with 
all on board. On the 28th, the body of Tom Grissom 
was found by the pilot-boat H. Westerman, floating at sea, 
about nine miles out, and the pilots also found the Mary 
K. Sprunt lying on the bottom, in eleven and a half 
fathoms, her white sails torn into ribbons, shining up 
through the blue depths and undulating with the motion 
of the restless sea. 

The Uriah Timmons had a crew of four men, C. C. 
Morse, Julius Weeks, Joseph Thompson, Jr., and Joseph 



207 

Arnold, and of these Arnold was the youngest, hardly 
twenty years of age. Every precaution was taken upon 
the approach of the storm, and with only enough canvas 
to steer by, she faced it. All day and night of the 12thy 
she leaped and rolled and dived like a cork on the waves, 
while the storm increased in fury every hour. Day dimly 
dawned on the 13th over a howling waste of waters, 
whose billow:^ heaved her skvward, leavinij areat chasms, 
down whose sides she rushed headlong as if to certain 
destruction. A gray mist shrouded sky and sea, and the 
storm-fiend shrieked with that unearthly voice which, 
once heard, is never forgotten. Cowering before the blast, 
licked from stem to stern by the tongue of the hungry 
sea, groaning and sobbing as she strained up the watery 
heights or slid down the hissing gulfs, the little ship drove 
on. Although carrying but thirteen yards of canvas, the 
jaw of the boom was eating into the foremast like a 
famished animal. With the advancing day, the fury of 
the gale increased. It seemed as if the spirit of an angry 
god walked the waters and was lashing the elements in 
his wrath. A mountainous wave, leading the host of 
billows, would rush toward the little vessel, and toppling 
as if to fall upon and crush her, would lower its crest, and 
gliding beneath her trembling timbers, lift her almost clear 



208 

ill air and toss her, toy-like^ to another hillow, while the 
multitudinous ocean roared with rage. 

The crew of the Timmons, brave and hardy mariners 
as they were, and accustomed to storms on the broad 
water from childhood, stood appalled at the surpassing 
terrors of this awful scene. 

Lashed in the cockpit, with vise-like grip upon the 
wheel and drenched to the skin, sat Julius Weeks, who 
had been there thirteen hours. At last, towards after- 
noon, to the utter dismay of all on board, the jib-halyard 
parted, and flying down the stay, the jib hung, bag-like, 
below the bowsprit, and instantly the sea, like a ravenous 
beast, fell upon it and held it down as if devouring it. 
The brave boat struggled hard to lift her bow, thus 
weighed, from the waves, and with a mighty effort suc- 
ceeded. Again the sea seized and held the bellying jib, 
and again the gallant boat, struggling, raised it clear, but 
with weakening power. The pilots now realized that, 
unless immediately released from this new and frightful 
danger, the Timmons could not hold her head up, but must 
founder after a few more struggles; but, feeling assured 
that an attempt to reach the jib-stay would result in 
certain death, as no man could ever remain on the bow- 
sprit, even if he could reach it, they were stricken with 



209 

despair. "We are lost." exclaiTiied one; "unless we can 
cut that jib-halliard, we are certainly gone! A man can't 
live there, but it is our only hope." 

Who should do this desperate deed ? They hurriedly 
agreed to decide the matter by lot, and were about to pro- 
ceed to do so, when Joe Arnold, who was now at the 
wheel, shouted : ' Hold on, men ! You are all married 
and have families ; T am a single man ; let me try it, and 
if I go overboard it will be all right," and surrendering the 
wheel, the brave b(\v drew his sheath-knife, and putting 
it between his teeth, started forward. It was impossible 
to keep his footing, and so he crawled cautiously along the 
deck (there is no railing to a pilot-boat), holding on as best 
he could. His companions watched him with the eager- 
ness of men whose only hope of life hung on his steadi- 
ness of nerve and physical strength. If he reached the 
bowsprit in safety, the sea w^ould certainly beat him off, 
for every time the little craft plunged, the waves seemed 
to leap up to meet her. For the first time since childhood 
fervent prayers rose to the lips of some of these men, who 
had ^'followed the sea" all their days without thinking of 
Him whose presence they now realized as they had never 
realized it before, and tears flowed freely down their 
bronzed faces. 



210 

Joe reached the foremast, and just then the Timmons 
rolled nearly on her beam-ends. He threw his arms 
around the mast and held on. The storm was now inde- 
scribably fierce and terrific. As the vessel slowly recov- 
ered herself, he loosened his hold and crawled towards the 
bowsprit. He reached it, got astride of it, locked his 
arms around it, drew a long breath, and then with a rush, 
the Timmons buried her head and Joe disappeared in the 
seething waters. 

The crew held their breath in an agony of suspense, 
while their eyes strained towards the boiling foam which 
engulfed him. In a moment the staunch craft, as if con- 
scious of the heroic effort for her relief, and stimulated by 
it to renewed exertion, bounded forward and upward 
through the dashing waters. And on the bowsprit, 
which was pointing skyward, the crew saw Joe straighten- 
ing himself into a sitting position, the knife still held in 
liis clenched teeth, and preparing to crawl still further 
out. Again and again this scene was enacted, each plunge 
and rise finding the hero nearer the object at which he 
aimed, while the crew fairly ached with the intensity of 
their emotions. 

He reached it at last, and watching the most favorable 
opportunity, released his right arm, snatched the knife 



211 

from his teeth, and with a swift and powerful stroke cut the 
jib-halliard through, as the trembling vessel started down 
another sea, restored the knife to its place, a.gain clasped 
the bowsprit in his arms, and again disappeared, but only 
for a moment, for the Timmons, now relieved of the weight 
which held her down, sprang out of the threatening gulf 
as with new life inspired. It was a great relief, but the 
tempest was still at its height, and now both Joe and the 
crew realized that the most hazardous iDart of this heroic 
enterprise was still before him, namely, getting back to the 
<leck again. It was not like coming down from aloft. He 
had to repeat the desperate performance backward. 

Slowly, and still astride the bowsprit, and still alter- 
nately plunged in the sea and lifted high in the air, he 
began the fearful task. Every instant was a crisis, every 
moment threatened to be his last; but slowly and steadilv 
he appj'oached the deck. 

Finally he reached it, slid along the foremast, clasped 
it as before, and at last, crawling, laid himself down ex- 
hausted amid his awe-struck companions 

The storm still howled, the sea was still awful, and 
night was coming on — another night of horrors — but the 
Timmons carried her head free, and a feeling akin to con- 



212 

iidence was beginning to take place of despair in the 
breasts of the crew. 

They passed in the gloom of the starless night upon that 
wild waste of waters, clinging to the hope that with the 
coming of another the storm would pass. And their hope 
was not in vain Gradually the violence of the wind 
abated, although the sea leaped frantically, and by the 
next morning had ceased to be alarming. They looked 
eagerly for the land, gave more sail, and in a few hours 
recognized points which assured them that they were off 
Georgetown, S C With grateful hearts they steered for 
the bar and entered the bay in safety, with no other dam- 
age to the Timmons than the loss of her boats, sails and 
rigging, a foremast nibbed almost in two and some 
strained timbers 

Joe Arnold still lives and pursues his calling, and he 
will be greatly astonished if he ever sees this account of 
his heroism, for he is modest and does not think he did 
anything worth talking about. 



213 



Bald Head Lighthouse. 



Homeward Bound. 

^Ve throbbinu' engines cease for ;i while — there is a great 
calm— the stiUness is profound and ;ilmost painful in its 
intensity. Peace L-ently folds her silent wings, and broods 
over i\\r placid deej) the day is waning, and as we view 



214 



the majestic grandeur of the scene, our hearts respoiul to 
the prophetic vision of the lonely exile on Patmos, who 
saw beyond the barrier of his mortal life the walls of 
jaspei% and the city of pure gold, where there sliall be no 
more sea. 



The sun is sinking in the Western ocean, bathed in a 
sea of glory, '^Tlie image of Eternity, the throne of the 
Invisible." Ever changing clouds of silver, of amher, nf 
gold, reflect the l^eauty of the Better Land, which eye 
hath not seen, noi' the heart of man conceived. '' A 
realm where the rainbow never fades — where the stars 
are spread out like the islands that slumber on the ocean, 
and where the beautiful beings who now pass before us 
like shadows, shall icuiain forever in our presence." 



Above the sighing pines the crescent rpieen of night is 
shining, tinging with (jiiivring yrllow rays the silent 



215 

sliadowy river. Weary nature seems to sleep. Our 
steamer's head is toward the ancient city whose honored 
name she bears. The anchor lights are gleaming in the 
harbor — the warning whistle tells us that the time to part 
has come ; like 

"Ships that pass in the niijht, and speak each other in passing-, 
Only a signal shown and a distant voice in the darkness ; 
So on the Ocean of Life we pass and speak one another, 
Only a look and a voice, then darkness again and silence." 

J. S. 



g^ 



MEN OF THE PAST. 



'' If a man die shall he live again ? " was the inquiry ot 
the Patriarch centuries ago, and inspiration answers in 
regard to the spiritual and our own knowledge and expe- 
rience to that of the natural life, and each in the aftirma- 
tive, for there really is no death. A man's good and 
great actions survive after he himself has departed, and 
keep him in continued remembrance, not only by his con- 
temporaries, but by posterity, for his name and the story 
of his life exists forever and is held up as a beacon light 
and an example to incite future generations to noble deeds 
and lofty enterprises. Michael Angelo, Titian, Eaphael, 
and other great masters still live though long since passed 
away, and speak to us to-day through their works, and 
the majesty of their deeds in w^ords of "living light;" 
and they will live forever. And so with others the world 
over ; they are found in every country, and among all 
peoples, and monuments are erected to commemorate their 
deeds, and poetry and song embalm their memories in the 
hearts of a grateful people. There are heroes in every 
walk in life, even the humblest, and who well deserve the 
plaudits of the world, but whose names do not appear 
upon the scroll of fame, whose lives are an example for 



II 

others, and who have benefited tlie world by acts of 
heroism unknown beyond the limits of their own con- 
tracted surroundings. 

Within the grandest sacred building of the British 
Kingdom may be seen this inscription upon the tomb of 
its renowned architect and builder : " Beneath lies 
Christoj^her Wren, architect of this church and city, who 
lived more than ninety years, not for himself but for the 
public. Reader, do you seek his monument ? Look 
around you ! " A modest and unassuming statement, yet 
how grand and beautiful in its simplicity, and how well 
intended to excite emotion. He lived not for himself, 
but for the public, and that noble virtue was illustrated 
years ago by the people of the then small town of Wil- 
mington to their great detriment, and to the ruin of many, 
while others have reaped the benefit of their generous and 
unselfish public spirit. In 1835 it was determined to 
build the Wilmington & Weldon Railroad, and books were 
opened for subscription to its stock. The citizens of Wil- 
mington, in their individual capacity, subscribed to a 
greater amount of the stock than the value of the entire 
property of the town listed for taxation, an act unprece- 
dented in our history and never equalled so far as is 
known. Thev were determined that the road should be 



Ill 

built, and it was done; but very many of them beggared 
themselves in the effort, while others received all tlie 
benefit of the sacrifices they had made. It is painful to 
recall the fact that nearly all the early friends of that 
great undertaking have passed away and are well-nigli 
forgotten, and in many cases their very graves are un- 
distinguishable from those of the multitude sleeping 
around. Is it not a refiection upon our people that neither 
marble nor bronze should have been erected to mark the 
spot where their ashes repose ? 

In the following list are some of the names of the 
most active friends of that enterprise, who undertook the 
great work for the public good ; also some of the names of 
others who acted well their part in later yeais, and de- 
served a place in the memory of our Wilmington people : 

Edward B. Dudley, Governor, iv.zd first President of the Wilmington \' 
Weldon Railroad. 

James Owen, Member of Congress, and second President of the Wil- 
mington & Weldon Railroad. 

Alexander McRae, Civil Engineer and third President of the Wilmino-, 
ton & Weldon Railroad. 

P. K. Dickinson, mill owner, successful merchant. 

Alexander Anderson, merchant and Mavor of the town. 

O. G. Parsle5% mill owner and large real estate holder, Hank President, 
Railroad President, Mayor, and a man of great firmness and integrity. 

Asa A. Brown, Editor of the Chronicle, 

Aaron I^azarus, preeminent merchant. 



IV 

Thomas H. Wright, Physician and President Bank of Cape Fear. 
Wra. B. Meares, Lawyer and Planter and eminent citizen. 

E. P. Hall, Merchant and President State National Bank. 

F. J. Hill, Physician and Planter. 

Wm. A. Wright, Lawyer, prominent and useful citizen. 

Joseph H. Watters, prominent planter and citizen. 

John McRae, Merchant, and first Mayor of Wilmington. 

Henry Nutt, Father of the im.provements on Cape Fear river, and fore- 
most in public spirit. 

Edward Kidc'er, originator and promoter of Clarendon Waterworks, mill 
owner, and the first to utilize saw dustfor fuel, friend of popular education. 

Gilbert Potter, mill owner, successful merchant. 

James S. Green, first Secretary and Treasurer of the Wilmington & Wel- 
don Railroad, until his death, 1S62. 

Wm. A. Williams, diy goods merchant. 

Robert H. Cowan, Sr.. planter. 

John W\)0Ster, dry goods merchant and turpentine distiller. 

James F. McRee, physician, planter and botanist. 

James H. Dickson, physician of great attainments. 

Z. Latimer, wealthy merchant. 

Wm. |. Harriss, prominent physician. 

Christopher Dudley, for many years Post Master of the city, 

Wm. C. Lord, Collector of the Port, sound judgment and great business 
cjualificati'-ms. 

John Hill, physician, Cashier and President Bank of Cape Fear. 

R. W. Brown, a good merchant, and esteemed for his probity. 

Geo. W. Davis, merchant, and familiar with all matters of business. 

|. W. K. Dix, prominent merchant. 

I<)hn C. Latta, merchant and Christian gentleman. 

Isaac Northrop, large mill owner, 

Talcott Burr, Jr., distinguished journalist. 

James T. Miller, Ma3^or of the town and Chairman County Court. 

T .C. Worth, generous hearted merchant. 



V 

Rt. Rev. Bishop Atkinson, Bishop of the Diocese of North Carolina. 
Cyrus S. VanAmringe, a gifted young business man. 

C. L. Graliflin, incorporator and first Superintendent of Navassa Guano 
Company. 

T. Savage, Cashier Commercial Bank. 

E. T. Hancock, merchant of prominence. 

H. R. Savage, Cashier Cape Fear Bank. 

W. T. Daggett, successful merchant. 

Daniel B. Baker, prominent lawyer. 

W. M. Parker, merchant and prominent in religious circles. 

N. Green Daniel, a thorough merchant and faithful friend. 

N. N. Nixon, the largest peanut planier of his day. 

Daniel L. Russell, planter and politician. 

Eli Murray, merchant, possessing many good traits. 

R. H. Cowan, accomplished scholar and orator. 

C. D. Myers, inspector and Captain in C. S. A. 

John A. Taylor, a public spirited citizen and successful man of business. 
Rev. Dr. Drane, the beloved Rector of St. James. 
W. A. Berry, physician and scholar. 
Dougald McMillan, large and prominent planter, 
F. J. Cutlar, physician, and a most estimable gentleman. 
Samuel Davis, long associated with our newspapers. 

Robert Strange, the able jurist, accomplished scholar and chivalrous 
gentleman. 

W. S. Anderson, jeweller and alderman. 

R. S. French, Judge, and ornament of the bar. 

Eli W. Hall, a notable citizen and lawyer. 

AVm. McRae, Brigadier General, Confederate Army. 

S. H. Morton, prominent merchant. 

D. R. Murchison, successful merchant, endowed with great boldness and 
sound judgment. 

W. L. Smith, successful insurance agent and Mayor of the City. 
Isaac B. Grainger, Bank President of great attctinments. 



VI 

J. L. Hathaway, a prosperous and conservative merchant. 
Levi A. Hart, prominent citizen, proprietor Foundry Works. 
Thomas L. Colvnlle, inventor, master machinist. 
W. H. McRary, a successful merchant. 
John C. Bailey, Iron Founder and machinist. 
John Dawson, Mayor and merchant. 
James Anderson, merchant. 

J. C. Walker, a skilful physician and amiable g'entlcnuui. 
James M. Stevenson, inspector and Captain in C. S. A. 
James Dawson, successful banker. 

Robert B. Wood, architect, builder and honored citizen. 
Geo. R. French, a prosperous merchant and philanthropist. 
" Frank Brown, active merchant. 

Wm. S. Ashe, Member of Congress and President Wilmington & Weldon 
Railroad. 

Robert G. Rankin, prominent merchant, a gallant Captain of Artillery. 
C. S. A., who fell in the last battle of the war, pierced by three bullets; 
his garments showed eleven bullet holes. 

Rev. Father Murphy, who died at his post during the yellow fever epi- 
demic, beloved by all. 

Rev. John L. Pritchard, the faithful pastor and loving friend, 

J. A. Engelhard, Editor of Journal and Secretary of State. 

Thos. D. Walker, President Wilmington & Manchester Railroad, 

Alexander Sprunt, British Vice Consul and merchant. 

S. D. Wallace, President Wilmington <& Weldon Railroad and Bank 
Cashier. 

W. L. Saunders, Secretary of State and Historian. 

Geo. Davis, lawyer, statesman and beloved citizen, 

A. L. Price, Founder of the Wilmington Journal. 

Edwin E. Burruss, banker, a warm-hearted and genial friend. 

R. R. Bridgers, President Wilmington & Weldon and Wilmington, Co- 
lumbia & Augusta Railroads. 

George Chadbourn, mill owner and President National Bank. 



VII 

John T^. Holmes, prominent lawyer. 

Donald MacRae, President Navassa Gnano Company, and a sueeessfnl 
finaneier. 

P. W. Fanning, Grand Master of Masons and sterling citizen. 
M. London, a prominent member of the bar. 

E. A. Anderson, a skilful physician and an honor to the profession. 

A. H. VanBokkelen, the friend of Confederate soldiers, one of our fore- 
most citizens. 

Will. Geo. Thomas, an accomplished physician and a prominent citizen. 
John C. Heyer, successful merchant and honest man. 
Thomas F. Wood, "the beloved physician" and botanist. 
Robert E. Calder, one of the noblest of Wilmington's sons. 

F. J. Lord, Spanish Vice Consul and an honest man. 
Julius A. Bonitz, the progressive editor. 

T. D. Love, a gallant Confederate soldier. 

B. R. Dunn, Engineer of Roadway, Atlantic Coast Line, 
B. F. Mitchell, a most worthy citizen, grain merchant, 

L. C. Jones, Superintendent of the Carolina Central RailroacL 

O. G. Parsley, Jr., once an active business man, and subsequently Post 
Master of the City. 

Geo. Sloan, Superintend3nt of the Wilmington Compress and Warehouse 
Compan3^ 

Jos. Price, Harbor Master and gallant soldier. 

J. Francis King, prominent physician. 

F. W. Potter, physician, and Superintendent of Health. 

G. H. Kelly, weigher and inspector. 

J. J. Hedrick, merchant, and a brilliant ofificer of the Confederacy. 

Henry Flanner, druggist and soldier. 

R. E. Heide, Danish Vice Consul and merchant. 

W. P. Elliott, identified with the trade of the LTpper Cape Fear. 

M. M. Katz, dry goods merchant. 

L. B. Huggins, successful merchant. 

Wm. G. Fowler, coal merchant. 



VIII 

L. Vollers, merchant. 

Edward Savage, a prominent merchant, and afterwards Colonel in the 
Confederate army, 

Thomab J. Southerland, liveryman and Captain in C. S. A. 
James F. McRee, Surgeon Confederate States army. 

E. S. Tennent, physician, notably allied to our Wilmington people, who 
fell at Secessionville, S. C, a Confederate soldier. 

A. H. Cutts, an experienced and trusted railroad officer. 
. G. A. Peck, hardware merchant and excellent citizen. 
T. F. Toon, Colonel C. S. A., a friend of the sailor. 
Hugh Waddell, a notable lawyer and eminent citizen, 
James A. Willard, merchant. 

F. A. Newbury, merchant. 
Robert Morrison, coal dealer. 

Alfred A. Moffitt, merchant and a good man. 

Willie Meares, a beloved young man. 

W. H. Lippitt, prominent druggist. 

Frank Darby, law^yer. 

Junius D, Gardner, bank officer. 

Alexander Johnson, excellent merchant and citizen. 

John Judge, experienced accountant and merchant, 

H. B. Filers, excellent citizen and Christian gentleman. 

M. J. DeRosset, Sr., prominent physician. 

James Fulton, editor of Journal. 

Joshua G. Wright, prominent lawyer. 

Thomas Loring, new.^ paper editor. 

J. C. Abbott, General U. S. Army, large mill-owner. 

M. J. DeRosset, brilliant scholar and noted physician. 

Jo.shua Walker, physician, amiable gentleman. 

William B. Giles, honored and beloved Christian gentleman. 

Richard A. Bradley, prominent mill owner. 

John Hampden Hill, prominent planter, eminent citizen and physician. 

Wm. N. Peden, a prominent citizen for fifty years. 



IX 

S. M. West, an upright merchant. 

Gaston Meares, Colonel C. S. A. 

Louis H. DeRosset, a gifted business man. 

Joseph S. Murphy, accountant and successful merchant. 
John E. Lippitt, successful merchant. 

Hugh W. McLaurin, expert accountant, and others whose nan:es fare not 
at this moment remembered. 

Among the younger men, \\ ho have passed away in recent years, and 
who had developed in many g< ( d traits and bid fair to be classed among 
the prominent men of our city, we recall L. P. Davis, T. C. DeRosset, 
J. B. Willard, L. vS. F. Brown, John H. Daniel, Edwin A. Northrop, Jas. McR. 
Cowan, John MacRae, Thos. J. Sinclair, DuVal French. Louis J. Poisson, 
Norwood Gause, Jam.es Elliott, Heibert Perdew, Murray Grant, William 
Grant 

It may be appropriate and a matter of interest to some to recall in con- 
nection with the " Men of the Past " the name of Thomas Godfrey, son of 
the inventor of the Quadrant and the author of the first dramatic work 
written in America. H*e died in this city and was buried in the old grave- 
yard adjoining St. James' Church in August, 1763. While living- here he 
wrote his tragedy "The Prince oi Parthia," 



^"^j;?fNSlP^ 



lE^ 



N OF THE PRESENT, 



Business, in every age of the world iias been the chief 
pioneer in the march of man's civilization. Blessings 
everywhere follow its advancing footsteps. It brings 
humanity into friendly and li.'irmonious intercourse. It 
removes local prejudices, breaks down personal antipathies 
and binds the whole family of mankind together by strong 
ties of association and of mutual and independent interests. 
It brings men together where towns and cities are built^ 
it leads them to venture upon the high seas in ships and 
traverse continents on iron pathways, and wherever we go, 
whether abroad or at home^ it is business that controls the 
great interests of the world, and makes mighty theafiair^s 
of men. 

Wilmington has six lines of railroads; the Wilmington 
& Weldon Eailroad to the Nerdi; the Wihidngton, Co- 
lumbia & Augusta Eailroad to the South ; Tlie Cape Fear 
and Yadkin Valley Railroad to the W^est ; the Carolina 
Central Railroad along the Southern tier of Counties in the 
State to the W^est ; the Wilmington, Newborn & Norfolk 
Railway along the Eastern tier of Counties in the State 
to the North ; and the W'ilminiiton Sea Coast Railroad to 
tl^e A tl;{n.tic Oc(^an 



XI 

Steamship Line direct to New York, a-lso to George- 
town, S. C; Steamboat lines on the Cape Fear River to 
Fayetteville ; on Black River to Point Caswell ; and on 
the low^er Cape Fear River to Carolina Beacli and 
Southport. 

Ocean steamers during the fall, winter and early spring 
to I^iverpool, Bremen and other ports in Europe. 

Sailing vessels to the near by rivers, and estuaries ; also 
to all coast-wise and foreign ports when required. 

Steam tugs for deep w\ater towing, and harl>()r and 
river towing, 

EMIPTENT CITIZENS. 



The record of the past and of the present would be in- 
complete wdthout a grateful reference to the lives of a few 
of our eminent citizens who, having served long and faith- 
fully their day and generation, have now retired from the 
activities of a well-spent life and aw^ait wdth Christian 
calmness and an abiding faith the summons to their re- 
ward. Six of them are octogenarians, whose shining 
examples as Christians, as patriots, as men of affairs, our 
youth would do well to emulate. We distinguish them 
by the good they have done in public and ])rivate life. 



XI r 



and by their k)ii,n^ jikI faithful devotioi to the best inter- 
ests of our city and eoinuionweilth. AVhen they have 
passed away may coining generations honor and revere 
the memory of Mr. John S. James, Dr. A. J. DeRosset. 
Mr. Alfred Martin, Mr. Alfred Alderman, Dr. John D. 
Bellamy, Col. James G. Burr and others whose names 
have long been, and happily are still, household words in 

Wilmington. 

•-'^>'-« ■ ■ ■ 

ATLANTIC COAST LINE 



The most prominent and remarkable of Wilmington indu.stries is that of 
the busy, thriving Atlantic Loast Line Company. The development of 
this splendid organization of forces was largely due to the industry, intelli- 
gence and wealth of the late Mr. W. T. Walters, of Baltimore; and its 
continuous prosperity, in the face of almost general depression in railway 
properties, to the superior skill and foresight of its present executive staff, 
at the head of which is Mr. Harry Walters, the only son of its projector. 

The annual meeting of stockholders of 1895 was marked by a melancholy 
incident — the presentation of resolutions of respect to the ' memory of the 
dead President by the greatest of North Carolinians, who, too, alas, was' 
soon to pass away. 

Mr. George Davis said : "The fortunate soldier who makes a wilderness 
and calls it peace, will ever be the world's hero, and the theme of its- 
glowing praise ; but of those who are to live when the soldier has passed 
by, surely he who devotes his life with a broad charity and an untiring 
energy to build up the waste places which the soldier has made, ought not 
to be without the grateful remembrance of those whom his labors have 
benefited. Such, in a great measure, is the life history of William T, 
Walters. • And that mind must be incapable of sound discrimination which 



X[II 

withholds its oniniciidation, because in benefiting others he also benefited 
himself. Those ot us who remember the country between Charleston and 
Richmond, when it was first awakened by his touch, and who look upon it 
now, will need no aid to invoke our grateful remembrance. * -^s- * * * 
His keen sagacity to discern where great possibilities lay dormant, and the 
courage to grasp and fix them, the ability to command great resources and 
to weld and organize them, never losing sight of details until the whole 
were moulded into one consistent plan, and then the energy and resolution 
which moved on as resistless as fate, until the work was done — these lifted 
him up to the level of those merchant princes of old who sat at the board of 
kings and propped the revenues of empires. He was no gilded youth, 
dallying with opportunities and catching them only when they fell into his 
hands. He made his opportunities and utilized them for himself, and that 
after all, was the great lesson of his life." 

The system comprises fifteen Southern roads, with an aggregate of r,540 
miles of track, extending from Richmond and Norfolk on the North, to 
Charleston, Columbia, and Denmark on the South. The company 
owns and employs i8o locomotives, 3,800 freight cars, and 135 passen- 
ger coaches. The number of employes varies between 4,800 and 5,300 men. 

The fastest railway journey ever made in the South was completed over 
the Coast Line in 1S94, from Jacksonville to Washington, 780 miles, in fifteen 
hours and forty-nine minutes, by a special train for the accommodation of 
the Knights of Pythias. The actual running time was fifty-three miles an 
hour. This was done via the Wilson Short Cut, " the fly in the amber" from 
a Wilmington point of view, by which we lose the through connection of 
former days, and which has probably proved as unprofitable to the Company, 
as it has been injurious to Wilmington. 

Colonel Warren G. Elliott, President of several railroads included in the 
system, was elected to this most important position on the death of Hon. 
R. R. Bridgers. Colonel Elliott is a man of broad and liberal views, 
familiar with the laws governing transportation lines, and thoroughly con- 
versant with the administrative department. He is admired for his genial 
and social qualities as well as for his bright intellect and business knowledge. 



XIV 

Probably no other stranger whoever cast his lot in Wilmington has gaini'd 
so quickly and so generally the friendship^ esteem and cordial good-will of 
our people. 

Major J. R. Kenly's reputation as Manager of this great system extends 
beyond the sea. Endowed with an active and discerning mind, he readily 
comprehends the most difficult problems and with rapidity arrives at conclu' 
sions. From the minutest details he is familiar with all that pertains to 
executive control of the myriads of forces which play their parts in this 
grand aggregation. Secure in the assurance of his power to wield and weld 
this force into a harmonious whole and to direct the whole for the best 
interest of his system, he impresses everyone strongly with his thoughtful, 
serious face and courteous demeanor, which so often characterize the man 
who is born to lead in the great business of life. 

Captain John F. Divine, General Superintendent, one of the oldest officials 
of the line, has ever been faithful and devoted to the interests of the com- 
panies he has served for so many years. His long experience has given him 
a thorough knowledge of the requirements for successfully and economically 
operating railroads He has long enjoyed the reputation of being better 
informed as to the cost of construction and equipment than any one in the 
South. Captain Divine is one of our most esteemed citizens, kind and 
considerate, charitable and benevolent, and always willing to lend a helping 
hand in the up-building of his city and State. 

Mr. W. A. Riach, the General Auditor, has long experience in his profes- 
sion. A gentleman of education and refinement, an expert accountant, 
trained under the most favorable conditions in his native Scotland, he retains 
the confidence and esteem of not only the great corporation which he so ably 
represents, but of our entire community. 

His superior traits of heart and mind in works of Christian benevolence 
have been recognized and honored by our best people. 

The enormous increase in the freight business of this system has been 
developed under the able management of the Traffic Manager, Mr. T. M, 
Emerson, who brought to this field the skill and experience of a well-trained 
and far-seeing mind. Nothing short of a genius in railroad affairs could 



xy 

have held the lead in Southern traffic manat^ement that Mr. Emerscn has sus- 
tained for five years past. Always alert, with an intellectual penetration not 
excelled in his profession, this Argus of the hundred eyes suffers nothing to 
escape him that would under his skilful direction subserve the interest of his 
employers. His tranquil countenance never betrays the workings of his 
well-balanced mind, and any one who tries to surprise his confidence in an 
attempt to cut rates, will soon find it a hopeless task, 

Mr. Horace M. Emerson, Assistant General Freight and Passenger Agents 
is steadily buiding a reputation which is already second to none in his 
line of duty. Affable, courteous, persuasive, he exemplifies superior tact, 
^vhich, with a tenacity of purpose, effects results simply unattainable by 
heroic measures. 

Mr. James F. Post, Jr., Treasurer, has a thorough knowledge of the intri- 
cate and voluminous transactions which give life and strength to large 
corporations, and that he has performed his duties acceptably is well attested 
by his ability to give general satisfaction. His promotion from a subordinate 
place to the responsible position he now fills, reflects credit an his financial 
knowledge and capabilities. He takes great interest in education, afld for 
many years has served as Chairman of School District No. 1. He has served 
as Alderman, and is active in city affairs. And last, but not least, is A 
faithful and consistent member of the Methodist Church, having served his 
people as Superintendent of the Sunday School. Mr. Post is generally liked 
by his associates and friends, 

Mr, E. Borden, Superintendent of Transportation, is eminently fitted for 
the place. The variety and completeness of his work, the methods of its> 
arrangement, the necessary orders and instructions to guide, command ouf 
respect and admiration. He might be termed a specialist in his branch oi 
railroading, having given more attention to this particular line, and this 
enables him to lend a helping hand to those occupying other positions, 
dependent on his prompt movement of trains. He has been wonderfully 
successful, and stands high with his Company. Mr. Borden is quiet and 
unassuming and posse.csed of many superior traits of character. 




ID 
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O 

O 



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XVII 

ALEXANDER SPRUNT & SON. 



The -Champion Compress and Warehouse Company's plant adjoins to that 
of the Atlantic Coast Line. This corporation was chartered by the State of 
North Carolina in 1879, and the entire capital stock is owned by the proprie- 
lors, who have lonp^ controlled it and whose export business alone has 
fostered and sustained it. 

The property includes 420,000 square feet of warehouse and dock space, 
with storage capacity of twenty thousand bales of cotton. Two of the largest 
Morse Compressors of ninety inch cylinders, are kept going from the begin- 
ning to the end of the cotton season. Their capacity is 3,000 bales in twenty- 
four hours, and more than a million bales of cotton have been pressed by 
Ihem during the past fifteen years, with scarcely a break of serious conse- 
quence. The plant is said to be the most convenient and complete of its kind 
in the United States. The warehouses are protected from fire by a thorough 
'system of automatic sprinklers, which have never failed in any emergency. 
The proprietors, Alexander Sprunl & Son, were the pioneers of the steam 
foreign trade in Wilmington, having previous to the charter of their first 
steamer, '* Barnesmore," in 1S81, been largely engaged in the naval stores 
trade, by sailing craft, and their business kept steady pace with the develop- 
ment of navigation by river and harbor improvement under the direction of 
United States Engineers. The "Barnesmore's" draft was 13 feet and her 
cargo 3,458 bales of cotton. The " Jeanara " took last year 11,250 bales of 
cotton on 18,^ feet of water. The firm has frequently loaded as many as 
five large steamers simultaneously, and the present class of boats employed 
by them average a capacity of 10,000 bales. The firm's direct agencies 
extend from Barcelona and Genoa, on the Mediterranean, in the South, to 
Helsingfors, in the Gulf of Finland, and Moscow, in central Russia, in the 
North of Europe, The}- have also an office and staff in Liverpool and in 
Ghent. 



xvdf 




THE ORTON " 



The a(fvantag'e& and attractions of WiimingJon, North Carolina, as a 
Winter Resort are being more widely recognized every year. lis location, 
directly on the Atlantic Coast Line, onJy eighteen hours from New York, 
renders it a desirable resting-place for both Northbound and Southbound 
tourists. It is just half-way between Jacksonville and New York City, 

The climate of Wilmington is excellent; there is not a more healthfu!^ 
Winter Resort in the United States. '"The Orton " is one of the best Hotels- 




Orton Plantation — Front View, 





Orton Rick Fikld. 




Colonial Road at Orton. 




OrTON HOMESTiSiVD. 



XXI 

in the South — containing all modern comforts and conveniences, including 
excellent beds, dainty, well-prepared food, electric lights, Otis elevator and 
return call-bell system. 

This establishment was built and is owned by a prominent Norih Carolinian, 
a resident of New York, who has sustained robust health and fine spirits by 
a Winter residence near Wilmington on his historic Colonial plantation, 
Orton, where he keeps a well-stocked game preserve. 

The table of "The Orton" Hotel in Wilmington is supplied with rice-fed 
poultry from this old farm, which in flavor and tenderness cannot be ecjualed 
at any other hostelry North or South. 



WORTH & WORTH 



This well-known firm was established by Dr. T. C. Worth, who came to 
Wilmington in 1852, and conducted successfully a large shipping business. 
He was joined in 1853 by his brother, B. G. Worth, Esq., and the firm 
style changed to T. C. & B. G. Worth. At that time all merchandise from 
the North for the interior of this State, and also for a part of South Caro- 
lina and Tennessee was brought by fast sailing packets from Philadelphia, 
New York, Boston and Baltimore to Wilmington, and transhipped in part 
by rail, but mostly by river steamboats to the country. An immense busi- 
ness was done by forwarding merchants here, who charged 20 per cent on 
the freight for their service, and the wharves of Wilmington were lined for 
a mile or more with the beautiful white- winged schooners, sometimes two 
or three abreast. River property was valuable in those days, as the fol- 
lowing incident will show : A small wharf below Market street, which 
would not realize more than two hundred dollars a year now, was be- 
ing rented at public auction, and the veteran crier, Mr. M. Cronly, sur- 
prised by the lively competition of responsible bidders, which reached six- 
teen hundred dollars, came to a full stop and said : "Gentlemen, please 
understand that I am not selling this wharf, I am only renting it for one 
year ! " 



XXII 

Messrs. T. C. & B. G. Worth were also largely interested in the river 
steamboats plying between Wilmington and Fayetteville, and were agents 
of the Cape Fear Steamboat Company. The Worths built the "Flora 
McDonald," "A. P. Hurt " and "Governor Worth." The "Hurt" stil 
survives. We recall the names of a few of the sailing vessels regularly 
engaged in our trade at that time: "Damon," "Charles E. Thorn, '^ 
"Alfred F. Thorn," "Repeater," " Regulus," " Aloric," "Venus,' 
" DeRoset," "John," "Ned," "Ben," "Alba," " Mary Powell," "A.^ 
Denike," "Belie," " David Duffield," "Myrover," "Lilly," "David Faust,' 
" Wm. L. Springs," " E. S. Powell," "Enchantress." There was also 
quite a fleet of small sailing craft styled " corn crackers," which brought 
corn in bulk and in bags from the Eastern counties, Hyde county being the 
centre. Three of these sprightly little schooners bore peculiar, and at 
times when off their schedules, strangely inappropriate names: " We'r 
Here," " I'm Coming," "So Am I". 

In 1862 Dr. T. C. Worth died, and after several changes of the firm 
name it became Worth & Worth, the present partners being Messrs. B. G. 
Worth, D. G. Worth and C. W. Worth. The house has always ranked 
highest in the commercial ratings of Wilmington, and its members are 
eminent in public and social life, especially and notably so in their liberal 
support of the cause of Christian benevolence. 

The writer, who received his early train mg from one of the leaders 
of business affairs in Wilmington, Mr. David G. Worth, would fain pay his 
tribute in this connection to the virtues and excellence of his former 
employer. The records of Wilmington do not contain a more patriotic 
citizen, a more upright merchant, a more consecrated life, a more 
devoted friend, than David Gaston Worth. In early youth he acquired 
from his distinguished father — the late Governor Jonathan Worth — those 
traits of heart and mind which, fitly joined together, make up the life and 
character of the gracious Christian gentleman. Of remarkable intellectual 
discernment and superior business penetration, he daily illustrates with 
characteristic modesty a broad charity and a noble purpose which our 
youth would do well to emulate. 



::.-Jru XXIII 
THE CLYDE STEAMSHIP COMPANY. 



Adjoining the Champion Compress and Warehouse Company's dock is 
the wharf of the Clyde Steamship Company. Their steamers run between 
New York and Wilmington, N. C, and Georgetown, S. C, bringing large 
quantities of freight South for Wilmington and the interior, and taking 
lumber, cotton, naval stores and many other products to New York, Can- 
ada, Northwest and points in Europe, The steamers consist of Steamship 
"George W. Clyde," 1574 tons ; Steamship "Delaware," 1272 tons ; Steam- 
ship "Pawnee," 858 tons; Steamship " Croatan," 827 tons; Steamship 
"Oneida," 752 tons, forming a fleet of fast, able steamers, with good pas- 
senger accomiuodation. General office is at 5 Bowling Green, New York, 
and the Traffic Manager of the line is Mr. Theo. G, Eger, The company 
is ably represented here by Mr. H. G. Smallbones, as Superintendent, w^ho 
has been long and favorably known in Wilmington. 



THE WILMINGTON COTTON MILLS, 



The Wilmington Cotton Mills was incorporated in the year 1874. It has 
been operated continuously since that time, first as a Print Cloth mill, and 
later, with the addition of a dye-house and finishing machinery, the pro- 
duction was so changed as to include a wide range of fabrics, such as 
crasher, gingham, cotton worsted and domestics. 

At the present time the mill is making domestics and napped goods 
almost exclusively. The product is sold in the North and Northwest, ia 
the principal markets, and to the largest buyers in the country, thus meet- 
ing successfully severe competition and demonstrating the fact that in 
Wilmington there are no serious obstacles to continued expansion of textile 
industries. 

The mill employs about two hundred people, and pays to employes 
about $4,000 per month; uses 2,000 bales of cotton a year; runs 7,000 
spindles, 286 looms and dyeing and finishing machinery. 



XXIV 

Much of the machinery was added during 1894 and 1895, and during* 1896 
a new weave building has been completed, which will add greatly to the 
production of the plant and to its efficiency. Plans are now being made 
for increasing the dyeing and finishing departments. 

The officers of the corporation are : President, Hugh MacRae; Vice 
President, David G. Worth; Secretary and Treasurer, Donald MacRae; 
Superintendent, J. W. Hawkins; Directors— Matt J. Heyer, B. G. Worth, 
Clayton Giles, D. G. Worth, D. MacRae and Hugh MacRae. 



PATTERSON, DOWNING & CO. 



This is perhaps the most extensive house in the naval stores trade in the 
United States. Their business connections extend throughout the great 
Northwest and Canada, and their foreign agencies are in every port abroad 
where the rosin and turpentine demand justifies the expense. They have 
branches in Canada, New York, Wilmington, Charleston, Savannah, Bruns- 
wick, and probably in other places. 

The firm is managed in New York by a former Wilmingtonian, Mr. E. S. 
Nash, and the agent here is his brother, Mr. H. K. Nash. 

Mr. Patterson has been long and favorably known as a merchant and 
capitalist of superior ability and a gentleman of extraordinary social 
qualities. 

J. H. SLOAN, COTTON BUYER. 



Conducts a large business in Charlotte and has an agency in Wilmington 
under the efficient charge of Mr. A. H. Brenner. 

Mr. Sloan was a member of the late firm of W^alker, Fleming & Sloan, 
and he has long experience in the trade. 

This firm employs foreign steamers in their cotton export trade from 
Wilmington to ports abroad and represents the well-known cotton mer- 
chants G. H. McFadden & Bro., of Philadelphia. 



XXV 

THE SEABOARD AIR LINE. 



Controlling over one thousand miles of railway, and having one of its 
termini in the city of Wilmington, has been one of the principal factors in 
promoting the prosperity of the city. The Carolina Central Railway 
Company, constituting that part of the Seaboard Air Line which reaches 
Wilmington, succeeded the Wilmington, Charlotte & Rutherford Railroad 
Company, which was projected and partly constructed prior to the war. It 
traverses the prosperous and fertile tier of counties on the Southern border 
of the State, and has a length of 287 miles, extending to the foot of the Blue 
Ridge Mountains. It is intersected no miles west of Wilmington by the 
main line of the System, the latter reaching- from Portsmouth to Atlanta 
and placing our city in easy reach of both the North and the South. 

First-class passenger service, with quick schedules, is operated, and all 
Southern, Western and Northwestern points are easy of access to travel- 
lers. This is also the case as to Northern and Western cities. A large 
number of visitors, some for short stay, and some spending the sumwer, 
come from the interior for the benefit of the salt water bathing, the good 
service affording a comfortable trip from Georgia, Alabama and other 
Southern States. Transfers to trains to the beach or boat for the river to 
Southport are made without expense, and without trouble. 

A large freight business is handled in and out of Wilmington, both local 
and to distant points. Excellent freight connections guarantee prompt 
movement, and the consolidation of the several roads now comprising the 
System under one general management, has given Wilmington a fast and 
serviceable route to and from all the great markets of the North and West. 

Attention is especially called, however, to the strenuous efforts being 
made by the Seaboard Air Line towards advertising the resources of the 
South, in the benefits of which Wilmington will share in proportion to its 
endeavors in the same direction. Mr. E. St. John, Vice-President and 
General Manager, became convinced immediately -after assuming charge 
of the Line, a, little over a year ago, that the prasperity of the Southern 



XXVI 

country, and consequently of the railroads traversing it, was largely 
dependent upon augmenting its populace with the same class of industri- 
ous, thrifty and intelligent farmers by whom the West had been built upr 
and he organized a special department under his immediate direction, in 
the interests of immigration. Thorough knowledge of the wants to be 
filled and a wide experience in the management of a large system of rail- 
roads in the West, outlined a policy which is beginning to bear fruit, and 
promises to build up the waste places in the South, putting in cultivation 
the fertile fields now idle, which should be yielding abundant harvests. A 
publication in the interest of intending settlers is published monthly, and 
can be had free of charge from any agent. In addition a handsome, illus- 
trated pamphlet, with carefully prepared description of the lands along 
the Line, can be had by addressing (with four cents for postage) Mr. George 
L. Rhodes, General Agent, Portsmouth, Virginia, who gives this depart- 
ment his personal supervision. 

The interests of the Seaboard Air-Line at Wilmington are in charge of 
Mr, Thomas D. Meares, General Agent.. The offices of the line are in 
Portsmouth, Va. , the following being a list of the general officers : 

E. St. John, Vice-President and General Manager ; V. E. McBee, Gen- 
eral Superintendent ; H. W, B. Glover, Traffic Manager ; Geo. L Rhodes, 
General Agent ; Charles R. Capps, General Freight Agent ; T. J. Ander- 
son, General Passenger Agent, 

Mr. Thomas D. Meares, the Wilmington Agent, is a conspicuous repre- 
sentative of an old and honored family of the Cape Fear. His fine- 
courtesy, his frank and manly qualities and his recognized business ability 
have won him many friends in social, political and professional life. 
Elected an Alderman of the city some years ago, his official acts have been 
marked by singleness of purpose — the promotion of the public good. He- 
believes in the benefits of advertising, and has already accomplished much 
by that means for the development of Eastern North Carolina and for the 
Railway system which be so ably represents. 



XXVII 

NAVASSA GUANO COMPANY OF WILMINGTON. 

As early as i8o4» Humboldt had described deposits of guano on the 
Islands of the Pacific ocean off the coast of Peru. The increasing demand 
and large exportation of this article from these Islands stimulated search 
for new localities, and in 1856 deposits were discovered in the West Indies, 
including the Island of Navassa. This Island was purchased by a party of 
enterprising Americans and placed under the protectorate of the United 
States Government, and has the distinction of being the only foreign 
possession of this Government outside of Alaska. Immediately upon 
obtaining possession of this Island the projectors cast around for a suitable 
location for the establishment of a plant to utilize the valuable deposits 
found there, and Wilmington was selected as the most available point in 
the South for the distribution of their manufactured product. 

On the 5th day of August, 1869, letters patent were issued by Governor 
Holden, of North Carolina, to Robert R. Bridgers, George W. Grafffin and 
Francis W. Kerchner, creating them a body politic and corporate to be 
known as Navassa Guano Company of Wilmington, for the purpose of 
manufacturing fertilizers and chemicals, mining and working the necessary 
ores, and such other things as may be incident to the manufacture and sale 
of fertilizers and chemicals, This Company was promptly organized, its 
capital stock subscribed for, officers elected and a site, known as Meares' 
Bluff, on the Cape Fear river, about four miles above Wilmington, 
secured. The erection of their plant was rapidly pushed forward, and as 
soon as practicable the Company began the work of manufacturing com- 
mercial fertilizers. The Navassa Guano Company has developed into one 
•of the largest and most successful organizations engaged in this important 
industry, and is to-day one of the best known industrial enterprises ever 
originated in the South, attesting the foresight of the gentlemen who 
conceived this idea. This plant was established and in successful operation 
long before the deposits of phosphate were known or exploited around 
Charleston, and before a single factory had been established at that centre. 



xxyjii 

The plant is well located, being situated on the banks of the Cape Fear 
river, where vessels from all parts of the world can proceed to discharge 
their cargoes of materials; in addition, they have most excellent terminal 
facilities connecting all the important railroads which centre at Wilmington. 
They procure their material from all parts of the United States, and 
import from South America, the West Indies, Italy and Germany. Their 
plant is thoroiighly equipped with all modern devices and appliances for 
the economical manufacture of high grade fertilizers, and their enormous 
warehouses occupy something over six acres of floor space. 

The Navassa Guano Company claims the distinction of being the pioneer 
in the fertilizer industry in the South, which, since the establishment of 
their factory, has developed into enormous proportions, giving employment 
to thousands of people, utilizing thousands of tons of what was formerly 
waste products, and representing an investment of about $40,000,000 



THE WILMINGTON, NEWBERN AND NORFOLK 

RAILWAY. 



The Wilmington, Newbern and Norfolk Railway was completed and in 
operation between Wilmington and Jacksonville, North Carolina, a distance 
of fifty miles, by February ist, i8gi, under the charter of the Wilmington, 
Onslow and East Carolina Railroad. Subsequently it was extended thirty- 
eight miles northward from Jacksonville to Newbern, namely, under the 
charter of the East Carolina Land and Railway Company ; which extension 
was completed in the latter part of July, 1893. Under legislative authority 
the two roads were consolidated by purchase of the East Carolina Land 
and Railway Company's Railroad, franchises, etc. ; and the entire line is,, 
and has been since February, 1894, owned and operated by the Wilmington^ 
Newbern and Norfolk Railway Company. 

The railway is of standard gauge, 4^9^^, namely, and is laid with 56-pound 
steel rails. The Company has fca^r locomotives, eight passenger cars, three' 



XXIX 

baggage ears and sixty-four freight cars. It also operates a steamer on 
New River between Jacksonville and Marines, a distance of eighteen miles, 
the latter point being wiihin about three miles of the mouth of the river. 
Semi-weekly trips are also made by this steamer to Tar Landing, about 
seven miles north of Jacksonville, on New River. 

In addition to the shipping facilities afforded by the Company at Jack- 
sonville, it has also constructed wharves on New River at Glenoe Stock 
Farm, seven miles below Jacksonville, and at Moore's Landing, on the 
west bank, and Marines, on the east bank of New River, eighteen miles 
below Jacksonville . 

At Jacksonville it has numerous sidings running into the property of the 
Parmele-Eccleston Lumber Company, one of the largest and most com- 
pletely equipped lumber-milling establishments in the South. 

At Newbern the Company has a large and commodious wharf and ware- 
house on the Neuse River at its Newbern terminal, and an attractive and 
roomy passenger station and warehouse. 

At Wilmington the Wilmington, Newbern and Norfolk Railway Company 
has a fine terminal property on the Cape Fear River at the south end of 
the city, on which is a wharf five hundred feet in length along the river, 
with a depth of water varying at mean low tide from 12^ feet at the 
extreme northern end of the wharf to 17 feet at the southern end. At this 
wharf vessels of large tonnage can load and unload directly from the cars 
and the Company's tracks alongside the wharf, which tracks are capable of 
holding fourteen freight cars suitably placed for discharging or receiving 
cargo to and from vessels. 

At Surry and Wooster streets, just above the Wilmington Cotton Mills, 
this railway has another warehouse and operates a valuable wharf property, 
now occupied, in part, by the United States River and Harbor Improve- 
ments Department under a lease. The Company has also leased for forty 
years the freight line of the Wilmington Street Railway Company, operated 
by steam vdummy along the water-front on the Cape Fear River, and con- 
necting the Wilmington, Newbern and Norfolk Railway on the south with 
the Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley, the Wilmingtan, Columbia and Augusta 



XXX 

Railroad, the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad, and the Carolina Central 
Railroad, near the extreme north end of the city. 

The general offices of the Wilmington, Newbern and Norfolk Railway 
are at the foot of Orange street, in the Power House of the Wilmington 
Street Railway. Its principal passenger station and warehouse in town are 
at the corner of Mulberry and Water streets. Its roundhouse is at Kiddei' 
street, in the south end of the city. 

The property of this railway company is in all particulars well con^ 
structed and equipped. At Newbern it connects with the East Carolina 
Despatch, thus giving it a through line connection with Norfolk, Baltimore, 
Philadelphia, New York and other Northern cities. 

This railway is almost entirely owned by Mr. Thomas A. Mclntyre, of 
the firm of Mclntyre & Wardwell, Produce Exchange, New York City, who 
is its President. The other officers of the Company are: Vice-President 
and General Manager, H. A. Whiting, of Wilmington, North Carolina; 
Traffic Manager and Auditor, J. W. Martenis, of Wilmington; Treasurer, 
William A. Nash, President Corn Exchange Bank, New York City; Secre- 
tary, C. M. Whitlock, of Wilmington; Cashier and Purchasing Agent, 
A. J. Howell, Jr., of Wilmington; Engineer of Roadway, W. G. Furlong, 
of Wilmington; Master Mechanic, George E. Branch, of Wilmington. 



ROBINSON & KING. 



This well-known and strictly reliable firm has long been identified with the 
naval stores trade of Wilmington. The senior member has served repeatedly 
as President of the Produce Exchange, and is thoroughly conversant with 
all the details of his business. Consignments from the interior will receive 
prompt personal attention. Orders from the North and West and from 
abroad, could not be placed in better hands. They make a specialty of the 
Tar business. 



XXXT 

BONEY & HARPER. 



This firm, the largest in the grain and feed trade of Wilmington, was 
established by Mr. G. J. Boney in 1884; twoyears later he associated with him 
Captain J. T. Harper, who was previously engaged in the steamboat busi- 
ness. The firm possess ample means, and valuable modern machinery, 
with all needful appliances in the manufacture of hominy and corn meal, 
which are their principal staples. The capacity of their mills is about two 
thousand bushels per day. They hold an extensive trade \vith North and 
South Carolina, and their well-earned reputation for fair dealing has been 
established throughout that district. The senior partner was elected Presi- 
dent of the Produce Exchange twice, and is one of the most active and 
intelligent traders of Wilmington, His public acts in political and business 
life have been rewarded by the recognition and respect of our entire 
community. 

Captain Harper, the junior partner, has established for his own account in 
Southport, one of the most complete general stores in the State. It is 
regarded as a model in its various modern appliances for convenience and 
comfort. 



WILMINGTON COMPRESS AND WAREHOUSE 

COMPANY. 



The Wilmington Compress and Warehouse Company was organized in 
1874. Operations were immediately commenced with a small Baldwin Press 
on the present site of the Wilmington, Columbia & Augusta Railroad freight 
warehouse. The following year a change was made to the present location, 
north of the Carolina Central Railroad, where the capacity of the plant was in- 
creased by the erection of a Tyler Compress. Unfortunately, during the 
season of 1876, the Baldwin Press broke down, at which time there were 
twenty-eight vessels in port, loading and waiting for cargoes of cotton. In 



XXXII 

1877 the Company was chartered, the Tyler Press was sold, improvements 
made and a more powerful Hydraulic Compress purchased. Recently 
another Compress of same make has been added. 

The plant now c<msists of two Compresses, five separate warehouses for 
the storage of cotton, divided by brick walls into compartments, with a 
storage capacity of 10,000 bales of cotton and a wharf-front of over a thoU' 
sand feet, and a depth of water sufficient for the largest steamers coming to 
this port. 

The officers are: H. G. Smallbones, President; Walter Smallbones, Secre ■ 
. tarv and Treasurer. 



ATLANTIC NATIONAL BANK. 



The Atlantic National Bank was organized in April, 1892, the last install- 
ment on the capital stock being paid during October of the same year. This 
bank does not pay interest on its deposits. Since the first year has paid semi- 
annual dividends of three per cent., and has increased its surplus account 
each year, having now a surplus of some $50,000 undivided profits. 

The President says : " Those who organized the Atlantic Bank determined 
to pay no interest on deposits, and to do business only on security as far as 
possible. As the patrons of Wilmington banks had not been accustomed to 
seeing banks conducted in this Way, the business of the bank was very small 
to begin with, but the volume of business increased steadily and at the end 
of the first year, the bank had accumulated profits at the rate of about twelve 
percent, per annum of the capital employed. Its stock will readily sell at 
about thirty per cent, premium, though it pays only six per cent, per annum 
in dividends, besides paying all taxes. The bank makes a specialty of 
always being able and willing to supply all customers with money at the 
minimum rates on approved security." This institution employes twelve 
salaried officers and clerks. J. W. Norwood is President and W. J. Toomer 
is Cashier. 



XXXIII 




Powers. Gibbs & Co's Fertilizer Factory, 



POWERS, GIBBS & CO, 



Located at Almont, on the North East River, within sight of Wilmington, 
is the extensive Fertilizer Works of Powers, Gi'hbs & Co. The plant is fully 
equipped, with a capacity of 25,000 tons per annum, the product being high 
grade fertiiizeis. The capital employed in the business is $200,000, 

Mr. Powers, the Wilmington managing partner, has established a large 
business and sustains it with characteristic skill and energy. His employ- 
ment of many laborers contributes much to the material prosperity of 
Wilmington, 



MURCHISOi^ & CO. 



The firm of Murchison & Co., Bankers, receives money on deposit, subject 
to check, discounts business paper for depositors, and does a very large col- 
lection business. Their facilities for banking in all departments are unsur- 
passed. The principals have been identified with Wilmington for more 



xxxiy 

than forty years, and they are rated in wealth at one million dollars and 
upwards. Confidence, caution and conservatism has been the rule of their 
business life. 

The junior partner and Wilmington manager, Mr. Henry C. McQueen, 
has been long bred to the business of this widely-known firm. He is endowed 
with a well-balanced judicial mind and versed in all branches of business. He 
was selected years ago as a member of the Board of Audit and Finance and 
still holds that honorable position in the municipal government. He has 
also served as President of the Wilmington Produce Exchange, and is known 
to our community as an honest Christian gentleman. 



THE WILMINGTON STREET RAILWAY CO. 



The Wilmington Street RaiU^ay Company was incorporated under an 
act of the General Assembly of North Carolina, February- loth, 18S7, and 
by an amendment in 1891 it was allowed to use electricity as a motive 
power in place of horses, and was also empowered to sell electric current 
for the production of arc and incandescent lights for power and heat and 
for such commercial and other purposes as might be found profitable or 
desirable. 

The electric system of the Wilmington Street Railway Company was 
put into operation early in 1892. The Company possesses also an exclusive 
franchise upon especially favorable terms. 

In January, i8g6, an additional line of track was laid connecting its 
Castle street branch on the south along 6th, Orange and gth streets, with 
the Princess street branch north of the centre of the city; thus forming a 
complete loop. Its railway property, therefore, embraces at present about 
5i miles of track in its passenger line completely equipped with electric 
motive power; it also owns a freight line i-| miles in length most advan- 
tageously located along the water-front of the Cape Fear River; which 
line is well constructed, with 60-pound steel T-rails, and is operated by a 
steam diimmy. This freight line connects all the steam railways which 



XXXV 

eentfe in Wilmington, viz: the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad, the 
Wilmington, Columbia and Augusta Railroad, these two constituting a 
part of the Atlantic Coast Line system; the Carolina Central Railroad, 
forming a part of the Seaboard Air Line system; the Cape Fear and 
Yadkin Valley Railway, and the Wilmington, Newbern and Norfolk Rail- 
way; betw^een these several roads the freight line of the Wilmington Street 
Railway Company is used to transfer passengers, cars and freight. This 
freight line has recently been leased to the Wilmington, Newbern and 
Norfolk Railway Company for a term of forty years upon advantageous 
terms. 

The Company's power house is situated at the corner of Orange and 
Water streets on the river-front; it is a commodious, two-story brick build- 
ing, equipped with electric generating apparatus of considerably more 
than the capacity required at present. All parts of the building and car* 
sheds are protected by an automatic sprinkler system. The Company also 
owns a wharf on the Cape Fear River at the foot of Orange street, from 
which vessels can be loaded directly and unloaded from and into cars. 

The officers of the Company at present are as follows: President, H. A. 
Whiting, Wilmington, North Carolina; Vice-President, B. F. O'Connor, 
New York City; General Manager, M. F. H. Gouverneur, Wilmington, 
North Carolina; Secretary and Treasurer, J. W. Martenis, WilminQ;ton, 
North Carolina. 



J. C. STEVENSON & TAYLOR. 



The above firm is a native product, both having been born in New 
Hanover county. The senior received his education in the common schools 
before the late war, and the junior since the war. The senior was in 
business for many years as a retailer, and was at one time the proprietor 
of four establishments, retail groceries, the junior a clerk at that time. 
At the age of 22 Mr. Taylor was admitted to a partnership, which was 
about ten years ago, since which time all of the retail stores have been sold 



XXXVI 

out, and the business has gradually gravitated towards an exclusive 
wholesale business, which now extends over nearly every county in the' 
State of North Carolina and a large number of counties in South Carolina, 
They are now represented on the road by five travelling salesmen, and are 
daily in touch with the trade, and have superior facilities for handling a 
large volume of business. Their quarters are in the central part of the 
cit3^ extending entirely through the block from Front to Water street^ 
with a warehouse on the riverside, where they receive from the boats and 
pack the celebrated "Cape Fear" brand of mullets, so popular throughout 
the State. They are classed among the largest dealers in molasses in the 
South, and keep constantly on band a large stock of all grades of molasses 
and syrups. 

These gentlemen, having worked up from the retail trade, are capable of 
giving wholesome advice as to how to buy a stock, what to buy, what not 
to buy, -and are well versed in the science of trade-winning. 



McNAIR & PEARSALL 



This firm began business in Juljr, iS88, They are strictly wholesale 
grocers, making specialties of coffee, rice, molasses and salt ; although they 
carr}^ a line of nearly everything kept in an establishment ot'tlu kind. 
They are agents for the King Powder Company, of Cincinnati, Ohio, They 
are also in the Commission business for the sale of cotton and naval stores. 



HILTON LUMBER CO, 



The Hilton Lumber Company manufactures rough and dressed lamber, 
mouldings, boxes and shingles from the North Carolina pine and cypress. 
The Company has the most improved mills, with four large dry kilns^ five 
planing machines and one shingle machine. Some 70 hands are employed 
and the capacity is ten million feet of lumber a year.. 



XXXVII 

D. L. GORE. 

D. L. Gore is a wholesale grocer and commission merchant, and has an 
extensive trade with the merchants and farmers in the adjoining counties 
of North and vSouth Carolina. He is also a large dealer in pea-nuts, ship- 
ping in quantities to Southern and Western States. 

His remarkable success, achieved by habits of thrift, economy and 
never-failing energy, proves him to be a man of superior ability. He is 
reckoned among the wealthy merchants of Wilmington, 



J. A. SPRINGER & CO. 



J. A. Springer & Co., wholesale and retail dealers in coal for domestic, 
steam, foundry and blacksmithing purposes, established this business in 1S73, 
The retail yards for supplying the city trade are located on Water street near 
the foot of Chestnut street. The wholesale depot is at the Seaboard Air 
Line yards, where large stocks of Anthracite coal are handled for rail 
shipments to interior points in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, 
All the coal is brought from Philadelphia and New York by vessels and 
discharged directly into bins and oftentimes direct into cars for through 
shipment. Special attention is given to coaling steamships with the cele- 
brated Pocahontas coal received direct from the mines by rail. 



R. W. HICKS. 



The well-known house of R. W. Hicks, wholesale grocer and commission 
merchant, has been in existence for fifteen years; for ten years previous 
Mr. Hicks was with Messrs. E. Murray & Co. He carries a full line of 
groceries and his business amounts to several hundreds of thousand dollars 
a year. The building he occupies is well adapted to his business, containing 
more floor space than any other in the city in the same line of trade. He 
invites all friends to call when visiting the city, whether on business or 
pleasure. 



xxxviir 
ROGER MOORE 



Roger Moore's place of business is in the three story brick store, I04 North 
Water Street, Wilmington, N. C, and warehouse nearly in rear of same, 
with wharves in front for storage of brick, shingles, laths, etc. He manufactures 
brick largely, and has always on hand for sale, besides a large stock of his 
own make, re-pressed brick for fronts, round cornered brick, for windows, 
doors, etc. He aUo deals largely in fire brick, clay, best brand of Lime, 
(Medal), best brand Rosindale "Hoffman" Cement, best brand of Portland 
Cement — Stettiner his leading brand. Laths, shingles, sawed Cypress and 
riven Cypress, 4, 5 and 6 inches wide; Longman & Martinez prepared Paints, 
Oils, &c. Roofing Felt, Sheathing Paper, M. B. Coating Paint for Roofs, 
Niils, Caps, etc. Aluminite, one of the best wall plasters known; Muresco, 
of delicate tints, for finishing walls, and a most durable substitute for white" 
washing at a low price. Also Agricultural Lime and Land Plasters. 



S. p. McNAIR. 

In 1881, Mr. S. P. McNair came to Wilmington and established himself 
in the wholesale grocery and general commission business. The success 
of his undertaking has been marked from the beginning, and his house is 
well and favorably known throughout the territory in which he operates. 
He possesses superior facilities for handling consignments, being a member 
of all exchanges where fluctuations of markets are recorded; thus keeping 
abreast with the times, he can dispose of the same to advantage. 



B. F. KEITH COMPANY. 

The B. F. Keith Company are not only wholesale grocers and commis- 
sion merchants, but are also manufacturers of Colly Mill water-ground 
meal and shingles. This Company deals in flour, molasses, rice, sugar, 
coffee, salt, fish, tobacco and pea-nuts. Their trade in groceries extends 
through North Carolina and a part of South Carolina. Their shingle trade 
is with the West India Islands. 



XXXIX 




Seamen's Friend Society Building, 



SEAMEN'S FRIEND SOCIETY. 



This Society was organized fifty-three years ago for the purpose of improv- 
ing the social, moral and religious condition of seamen. As a means to 
secure these ends, there has been erected on Front and Dock streets a Sea- 
men's Home and a Seamen's Bethel, where seamen are properly cared for 
and attended, and where the ministrations of the Gospel can be secured. 
Services are conducted at the Bethel every Sunday afternoon commencing at 
3 o'clock. 

Any person contributing Two Dollars annually is a member of the Society, 
or by paying Twenty Dollars at any one time is a member for life. The 
officers of the Society are: George Harriss, President; George R. French, 
Vice-President; W. J. Woodward, Secretary and Treasurer; and the Direc- 
tors, James Sprunt, John Cowan and Rev. Dr. Robert Strange. 



XL 

VOLLERS & HASHAGEN. 



VoUers & Hashagen are engag-ed in the brokerage and commission business, 
in provisions, flour and grain. Being provision-packers and millers agents, 
their goods are received in car-load lots and disposed to jobbers under the 
most favorable advantages. Having trackage room and their warehouses 
located in close proximity with the tracks of the Atlantic Coast Line, there 
is a saving of the expense in drayage or storage. For years they have repre- 
sented Messrs, Armour, of Chicago, for the sale of their goods at this point, 
and they handle on commission flour from the Michigan Mills, which is 
asserted to be of the best grades of flour on the marked 



CLARENDON WATER WORKS. 

The Clarendon Water Works, located at Hilton, were built in iSSo-'8i, at 
a cost of $200,000. There are three Worthington pumps, with a daily 
capacity of 3,000,000 gallons, the system pumping to stand-pipe and direct 
into the mains. The fire pressure is roo pounds. There are one hundred 
and five public hydrants, fourteen and one-half miles mains. The source 
is the Cape Fear river, which Professor Nichols, of Boston Institute of 
Technology, says " is a more potable water than is usually furnished 
American cities." The rates charged are comparatively low% both for 
domestic and manufacturing purposes. 



WILLIAMS, RANKIN & CO. 



The firm of Williams, Rankin & Co., wholesale grocers and commission 
merchants. Nos. 16 and 18 North Water street, are successors of the long- 
established and well known firm of Williams & Murchison. Their facil- 
ities for business are excellent and their correspondence extensive. Mr. 
Rankin is one of the best trained wholesale grocers in Wilmington, and 
can always be found at work He never takes a holiday, and if ample 
means, skill and industry count for anything, this firm should do a thriving 
business. 



XLI 

PEEEGOY-JENKINS CO. 



The PeVegoy-Jenkins Company^ a corporation existing by special act of 
Ihe Legislature of North Carolina^ succeeded the Peregoy Lumber Co. 
August ist, 1895. This Company manufactures and dresses into flooring, 
Ceiling,, partition, siding, casings, mouldings, etc., etc., from twelve to 
fifteen million feet of North Carolina pine and cypress per annum. 
Besides, they have capacity for making about six million sawed cypress 
shingles. Their plant is equipped with all the latest improved machinery, 
iind consists of band saw mill, planing mill and dry kilns. Everything is 
lip to date^ well arranged and strongly constructed. They have a large 
frontage -on deep water, the largest vessel having no difficulty in reaching 
Iheir dock, and ample side-tracks from the railroads terminating at 
Wilmington. About roo hands are employed. W. Edwin Peregoy is 
President and Treasurer^ and J. Wilcox Jenkins Secretary, 



WILMINGTON SAVINGS AND TRUST COMFANY. 



The Wilmington Savings and Trust Company was organized January, 
^888. The most prominent promoters were Messrs. H. W^alters, D. O'Connor, 
J. W. Atkinson, B. F. Hail, F. Rheinstein, Pembroke Jones and G. R. 
French. The institution has grown steadily in deposits and in favor in the 
'Community since its organization. During the panic of 1893 the Bank 
Would no doubt have been compelled to suspend business during that year, 
but for the fact that Mr. H. Walters, of the Atlantic Coast Line^ guaranteed 
a,ll depositors against any loss and provided funds in Baltimore to pay all 
"depositors in f-ull. Since that time the growth of the Bank in deposits and 
prosperity has been much m-ore rapid than at any previous time in its 
history.. The deposits now exceed $200,000, the surplus account $5,000, 
and the stock sells readily at 20 per -cent, premium. The policy of the 
^Directors of this Company is to strengthen the Bank financially m every 
conceivable way. J. W. Norwood is President, H. Walters A^ice-President 
and George Sloan Cashier. 



XLII 

CAPE FEAR LUMBER CO, 



One of the largest manufacturers of kiln-dried North Carolina pine 
lumber in the rough is the Cape Fear Lumber Company. Having a 
double band mill, about twenty million feet of lumber can be made each 
year. Recently the Company was re-organized by electing E, C. Gates; 
President, and Bradley L. Eaton Secretary and Treasurer, both residing 
in New York ; and John A. Arringdale, Vice-Pesident and General 
Manager, who resides here. The entire product of these mills is handled 
in New York City and Eastern markets, and is shipped mostly by water. 



ELEVATOR AND FERTILIZING WAREHOUSES. 



The Wilmington Compress and Warehouse Company own the Elevator 
and Storage Warehouses, which are separated from their cotton ware- 
houses by the saw mills of J. H. Chadbourn & Co. Here guano, kainit, 
salt and other products in bulk are received from vessels and stored irc 
bins. This plant is fitted with Hunfs patent elevator and engine, the 
most rapid method known for discharging cargo in bulk^ vessels frequently- 
discharging two hundred and fifty tons in ten hours, the material being; 
dumped in a hopper, thence loaded in cars and di'opped from elevated 
railroad in.to the bins below. 



S. H. FISHBLATE. 



The attractive clothing and furnishing store of S. H.. Fishblafe may be 
mentioned as one of the largest and most complete emporiums ot its kind' 
fn the State, The proprietor came to this city in i86g and began business 
on Market street. In 1879 he moved to his present quarters, Nos, 22 & 24 
North Front street, where he carries the largest stock in his line in the 
State. He is sole agent for Dunlap's celebrated hat,, pearl sliirts and 



XLIII 

SlfoliSe & Bros\ ''high art'^ clothing. Mr. Pishblate is public -spinted and 
progressive, and has been prominent in municipal affairs for many years^ 
serving on the Board of Aldermen for six terms and Mayor for four terms^ 
He recently resigned this high office, and now devotes his entire time to 
his business, which he intends shall make his name even more widely 
known than through the channels of political ambition. 



HALL & PEARSALL. 



Some of our best citizens have been given to us by the old county of 
t)uplin, which was also the home of both members of the above fifm^ 
Messrs. B. F. Hall and Oscar Peai-sall. The senior member is one of the 
toany Duplin county veterans of four year's service in the Confederate 
Army, for which the junior member was ineligible on account of his youths 
"But now, thirty years after the war, they are both veterans among the 
mercantile firms of this city. 

The business was established at No. 3 South Water street in the year 
^869 by J. J. Edwards and B. F. Hall. Increasing trade called for larger 
room, and about the year 1873 they bought and occupied the lai^e brick 
building on the same street, in which they did a prosperous business till 
the death of Mr, Edwards in the year 1876. On his death the firm name 
was changed to Hall & Pearsall, Mr. Pearsall having been admitted a 
partner the year previous. 

Under the favorable conditions then existmg the new firm continued to 
■do a prosperous and increasing business in the old stand until the year 
1892, when they moved into the store and offices (which they still occupy) 
in the large new building on the corner of Nutt and Mulberry streets. 
And in order to utilize the large property owned by Ihem on the river-front 
between the depots of the A. C. Line and the Seaboard Air Line, a large 
wharf was e-xtended to deep water, wnth a commodious dock on each side-, 
and on the property two large warehouses were built and connected by 
private lines with the different railroad depots of the city. 

In this shipping depots called " Waterland." they carry a large stock oi 



XLiy 

heavy goods, such as salt, meats, flour, molasses, fish, bag'g'iiig', ties, nails, 
iron, eic.. which they are able to ship either by water or rail at the least 
expense of handling. In their store and offices on Front street they 
exhibit samples of their heavy stock, together with a full line of light 
goods, selected chiefly with reference to the requirements of the country 
trade. 

The firm owns a large storage depot on Point Peter, at the junction of 
the Cape Fear and North East rivers, where their receipts of naval stores 
and produce of that class, are bandied by competent men employed for the 
purpose . 



WILMINGTON REFRIGERATOR AND ICE WORKS 



W. E. Worth & Co., proprietors of the Wilmington Refrigerator and Ice 
Works, have the most extensive and complete plant of the kind in the 
State, At their large Ice Factory, with a capacity of forty tons per day, 
they manufacture hygeinic ice, as near absolutely pure as can be made 
artificially. They give special attention to orders for one hundred and 
two hundred pounds. And ice by the car-load is loaded direct from the 
Ice House to the cars without being exposed to either the sun or air, thus) 
avoiding loss in leakage thereby. Undoubtedly their facilities for doing a 
general ice business, in all its details, are unsurpassed, and the quality of 
the ice is the very b^st. They solicit orders. The managing partner. 
Mr. William E. Worth, one of the most honored names in the State, has 
long experience in this business. He is^ perhaps, without any exception, 
"the greatest hustler in Wilmington," and it is said ane must be an early 
riser to get ahead of him. Besides his management here, he is interested 
in the same line of business at Goldsboro, Rocky Mount and Greensboro^ 
and is Director in several companies- organized for the material develop- 
ment of the State. 



XLV 

ARMOUR PACKING COMPANY. 



This is a branch of Armour Packing- Company, of Kansas City, the 
largest Packing House in the world. All kinds of fresh and cured meats, 
in refrigerator cars, owned and operated by the company, are received 
almost daily. A large cold storage room, for the purpose of keeping beef, 
pork, mutton and sausage fresh and sweet, is kept at a temperature of 38° 
all the year round . 

A large stock of all kinds of dry, salt and smoked meats constantly on 
hand. Hams and breakfast bacon, including the famous "Gold Band" 
brand, "White Label," and "Helmet" pure leaf lard, and Helmet brand 
canned meats. Ships, railroads and commissaries supplied with barrel 
beef, and pork, oils and tallow. All orders filled promptly from this 
branch. Pure animal fertilizers sold in any quantity. Correspondence 
solicited. 

L. P. MacKenzie is Manager of the branch at Wilmington, N. C. 



WILMINGTON IRON WORKS 



This corporation has been identified with Wilmington industries for more 
than half a century. The firm was originally PoUey & Hart, then 
Hart'& Bailey, then Burr & Bailey, from which it was changed a few years 
ago to the Wilmington Iron Works. Mr. H. A. Burr and Mr. E. P. Bailey, 
the' proprietors, need no introduction, being welUknown as technical and 
practical engineefS, honored citizens and energetic thrifty business men. 
They describe their works as architectural and general foundry, machine 
shops, wood work, sash, doors. &c. Copper stills, machinery supplies. 
Agency of leading houses Jn belting, Engines, Gins, &c., located at Nos. 
tg and 21 South Front_Street. 



XLVI 

POWELL & CO. 



Powell & Co., Purveyors, have their Parlor Market at tne City market. 
Everybody knows Sam Powell, and Sam knows everybody's appetite, and 
just how to meet it more than half way with a delicious, juicy steak, an 
artistic bundle of lamb chops, a roast that brings the smile of satisfaction 
to the most chronic dyspeptic and— well, just ask Sam what you want, and 
if he don't produce it instantly, you may as well wait, as you will not find 
it elsewhere. Special attention given to ship supplies. Powell & Co, get 
their supplies direct from the great stock centre of America, and if there 
is anything good to be had Sam is not the man to be without it. 



CAPE FEAR & YADKIN VALLEY RAILWAY. 



Fifty years ago Fayetteville controlled nearly all the inland trade of 
North Carolina, with a large part of portions of Tennessee and Virginia, 
The merchants of Wilmington were accumulating fortunes in plying a vast 
and lucrative business with the West Indies; and the Cape Fear River 
transportation of molasses, sugar, salt, iron, coffee and the goods of the 
Northern markets to Fayetteville, the head of navigation, was immense. 
Canvas-topped wagons, drawn by two, four and six horses, with jingling 
bells, traversing hundreds of miles from across the Blue Ridge, winding 
over the red hills of the rugged country about the Pilot and the Sauratown 
Mountains — creaked slowly and heavily on, to the shout of driver and the 
crack of whip, towards Fayetteville, the Mecca of trade, the El Dorado of 
marvelous riches in merchandise. These wagons, all laden, were driven 
into town in long lines, grouping themselves about the different places of 
business whence came the hum of traffic all day and often far into the 
night. But the "iron horse" was more powerful than the road'Wagon, and 
for this cause Fayetteville lost most of her back country trade. 

In 1852, a charter was granted for the Western (Coal Fields) Railroad, 
extending from Fayetteville West, through the counties of Cumberland, 



XL VII 

Moofe, Harnett and Chatham, which, with the large amount of stock taken 
therein by the State, and by the aid of liberal subscriptions trom the 
county of Cumberland, the town of Fayette ville and individual stock- 
holders, was built to Egypt, progressing no farther than that point when 
the outbreak of the war suspended all further operations. Imperfectly 
worked as they were, the coal mines of Egypt and the Western Railroad, 
with its facilities for transportation, proved of incalculable service to the 
Confederate Government in the struggle of four years which ensued. 

As far back as 1815 the immense advantages of opening to the markets 
of the world the rich territory of the Upper Yadkin Valley by connection 
with Fayetteville as the head of navigation on the Cape Fear River had 
attracted the attention of leading men in the Legislature, and such con- 
nection by canal was favorably reported and even undertaken, but the 
obstacles opposing themselves proved insurmountable to the crude progress 
of that day, and the work was abandoned. 

Later, in the late 40's and early 50' s, Edward Lee Winslow, George 
McNeill, H. L. Myrover, T. S. Lutterloh. A. A. McKethan, D. A. Ray, 
Jonathan Worth, G. Deming, John H. Hall, Duncan G. McRae, Alexander 
Murchison, Daniel McDiarmid and others, under charter, built the Fayette- 
ville & Western Plank Road in order to reach the rich and productive 
sections of Western Carolina. These public-spirited men went to work to 
tear away the veil which had so long covered their eyes and blinded them 
to their interests, and relieve from the bondage in which the people of the 
productive region of Western Carolina had been kept by bad roads. This 
means of transportation was some relief, giving a quicker and more 
healthful circulation through the arteries of trade. But these roads were 
not adapted to the wants and conditions of the people, and the attention o£ 
all was directed to the feasibility of building the Western Railroad. 

Whilst all who based their conclusions upon a knowledge of the country 
to be penetrated by the Western Railroad rested in a full conviction of its 
vast importance and of its ultimate final triumph, yet there was a number 
whose minds were closed against such conviction, and who, with trium- 
phant air, proclaimed its uselessness and prophesied its failure. These 



XLVIII 

evil declarations and ill-timed prophecies were not the fault of the' 
country which was to be reached, or fof any want of great and mighty 
resources within it, but only the misfortune of ignorance on the part of the 
prophets and their own utter want, in this behalf, of any resources what- 
ever. That any one born in North Carolina could have permitted himself 
to doubt or declare disbelief in the importance and success of a railway 
communication through the great Yadkin Valley, furnishes only melancholy 
evidence of the inexplicable conclusions to which human judgment will 
arrive. That this Valley should have been So long neglected was a riddle 
and a wonder. That it should now, in the meridian of this enlightened 
century and the noon-tide of human enterprise and progress, find resist' 
ance, or indifference, or aUght else than active, restless and united zeal for 
its development, baffles all human reason. 

By the public spirit and energy of Messrs. John D. Williams, E. J. Lilly 
and John M. Rose and others of Fayetteville, the mists of prejudice and 
ignorance had to yield to the sunlight of truth, 

For fourteen years the Western Railroad, although first in importance to 
the agricultural and commercial interests of the State had been neglected, 
and, indeed, lost sight of. It presented only an isolated line, without any 
outlet, either North or South, East or West. 

But in 1879 this great proposed system of State internal improvement 
and material development demanded recognition and received it at the 
hands of the General Assembly, which, by an Act ratified February 25th, 
1879. authorized the consolidation of the Western Railroad with the Mount 
Airy Railroad, and changed the name of the Corporation to that of Cape 
Pear & Yadkin Valley Railway Company. 

In 1883, at the next General Assembly the State surrendered her interest 
in the Road, with some needed concessions, to a Company of private 
citizens, who went to work building wisely and vigorously. 

Immediately after the new management of the Railroad, this Company 
entered into a contract with the Directory of the Fayetteville & Florence 
Railroad for the extension over its graded road-bed of the Cape Fear & 
Yadkin Valley to Maxton and continuing on to the State line. Simultane- 



XLIX 

onsly the work of construction was pushed Westward, and in 1S84 trains 
were running into Greensboro and the Southern extension was cmipleted 
to Maxton. 

In 1883, a contract was made with the Directors of the Southern Pacific 
Railway for grading, track-laying ard equipping that Road from the State 
line to Bennettsville, South Carolina, which work was completed in 
December, 1S84. There was little pause in the work of extension, and in 
1888 the Road was completed to Mount Airy— "the beautiful village lying 
under the shadow of the towering chain of the Blue Ridge." In the 
meantime branch roads were completed to Millboro' and Madison. 

In 1S90, the line was extended from Fayette ville to Wilmington, the 
eastern terminus. The Company immediately made their terminal 
facilities at Point Peter first-class, with ample accommodations for the 
handling of freight and passengers to the city wharves of the Company. 

The work of construction was formed by the North State Improvement 
Company, incorporated in 1883, of which the late Mr. John D. Williams 
was President, and all cheerfully bear witness to the fidelity with which the 
work was done. 

The Cape Fear & Yadkin Valley Railway crosses the chief water-ways 
of the State and forms a direct line through some of the finest regions of 
the three geological divisions of North Carolina— bisects it from northwest 
to southeast, aiming to make final connection by the shortest route with 
the great railway highway at Cincinnati and combining finally that most 
admirable feature of railroading which reaches out and penetrates the 
undeveloped back country, with its own seaport for an outlet, with all its 
advantages to hundreds of miles of interior of its shipping, diversified 
manufactures and commerce. 

It will be noted that the Cape Fear & Yadkin Valley Railway system- 
conceived in the days of the wealth and prosperity of the tide-water and 
Upper Cape Fear section— lays the steel rail upon the disused old rut of 
this remunerative traffic, and its long trains bound with the swift life of 
steam power over the route of the slow-toiling wagon caravan ; from the 



seacoast to the mountains, through some of the best settlements and 
most fertile counties of the State, it will move still onward, signalizing the 
wisdom which had seized upon what nature had blazed out for a great 
highway of commerce. 

This railway is an enduring monument of the enterprise of John D. 
Williams and E. J. Lilly, of Fayette ville; George W. Williams, of 
Wilmington; K. M. Murchison, of New York; John M. Worth, of Ashboro; 
W. A. Lash, of Walnut Cove; Charles P. Stokes, of Richmond. Virginia; 
W. A. Moore, of Mount Airy; J. Turner Morehead, of Leaksville; Robert 
T. Gray, of Raleigh; D. W. C. Benbow and Julius A. Gray, of Greensboro; 
and richly deserved all the benefits and prosperity which it should have 
conferred on them. 

Unfortunately, the Cape Fear & Yadkin Valley Railway became embar- 
rassed on account of its original debt of construction, bondholders became 
exacting for their annual interest ; and, although the management avoided 
making any outlays of money, not absolutely necessary to be made, and 
the operating expenses were conducted w^th prudence and strict economy,, 
the Company was forced into the hands of a receiver. General John Gill 
was appointed, and is at present serving in this position. 

The truth is emphatic that whether in war or in peace — in the rapid 
transmission of troops and munitions of war to the protection of the 
largest seaport in the State, and therefore the most likely to be assailed, or 
in the commercial interchange of the products of the West for those ot 
foreign countries, the Cape Fear & Yadkin Valley Railway is of vital 
importance to our State, and as such the bondholders must conclude, 
governed by an enlightened policy, and disregarding the sectional 
prejudices attempted to be excited, that it is unwise to entertain terms 
looking to the disposal of its divisions and thus dismembering the main 
line. 

Upon a review of the increasing popularity of the Road, with its present 
connections and its increased revenue, the people of the Cape Fear section, 
indulged the confident belief that it is destined to succeed and prosper in. 
despite of the obstacles and difficulties it has encountered. 



I 



LI 

The energy and zeal with which Captain W. E. Kyle, General Freight 
and Passenger Agent, has labored for the success of the Cape Fear & 
Yadkin Valley Railway amid many difficulties, the fidelity he has evinced 
in his sphere, and his warm co-operation in all efforts to promote the 
progress of his Road, entitles him to the highest commendation. 

Captain T. C. James, the Agent of the Cape Fear & Yadkin Valley 
Railway, at Wilmington, by his steadiness and attention to business, his 
courtesy to the patrons of his line, his zeal in the discharge of his duty, his 
uprightness of purpose and integrity of character, has gained him the 
confidence of our citizens. 



HOLMES & WATTERS, 



This well-known enterprising firm of young men, " native and to the 
manner born," needs no introduction on the Cape Fear, for their fathers and 
grandfathers and great-grandfathers were eminent men in its history, and 
the race is not dying out. The partners, Gabriel Holmes and Joseph H. 
Watters, served theif time as grocers clerks in the fine store which they have 
■occupied for years as principals, and they are familiar with all the details of 
a business which now commands, perhaps, the most extensive tetail trade in 
Wilmington, and a large share of the wholesale business in their line. The 
firm stands high financially and socially, and they attend strictly to their 
businesSs 



SNEED & CO. 



Invite aft inspection of their stock of furniture, carpets and matting, 
house-furnishings and window-shades. They are also large mattress manu- 
'^acturers, and claim to be the cheapest furniture house in North Carolina, 
Their place of business is Nos, 114 and 116 Market streeJ. 



Ltl 

J. W. MURCHISON, 

One of the most prominent hardware dealers in the State, carries a large 
stock of general supplies in his line, which he offers at close prices. He has 
the benefit of ample means and long experience in the trade, having been 
engaged in the business for many years, and he is generally recognized as 
one of the most industrious and deserving merchants in Wilmington. Call 
on him for agricultural implements, builders' hardware, turpentine distillers' 
supplies, fishing tackle, sporting goods, pistols, guns, ammunition, table and 
personal cutlery, and all the domestic et ceteras usually found in a first-class 
hardware store. 

Mr. Murchison and his efficient staff are the embodiment of politeness and 
attention. His establishment is in the heart of the city, next to the Ort.m 
Hotel. 



THE NATIONAL BANK OF WILMINGTON. 



This bank was incorporated in June, 1894, wilh a capital of $100,000, The 
building occupied by this bank is on the Northwest corner of Front and 
Princess streets, and was built by a former banking institution for this express 
purpose, is three stories with basement, imposing in architectural design, 
and admirably arranged for the safe and expeditious transaction of business. 

The surplus and profits is $12,000. It is the State and County depository, 
and transacts a general banking business. Solicits accounts of out-of-town 
customers and offers every facility of first-class banking. 

Mr John S Armstrong, the President, is a financier of ability, and to him 
is due much of the credit of establishing this bank. 

Messrs. Jas. H. Chadbourn, Jr., and William Calder, the Vice-Presidents, 
are ever alive to the best interests of the bank, to which much of their atten- 
ti<jii is given, which has resulted in making many friends and considerable 
V)usiness. 



LIII 

Mr. F. R. Heiwes, the Acting Cashier, is a young man of recognized 
ability, thoroughly understands the business and is generally liked by the 
commercial people. 

The directors of the bank are John S. Armstrong, Jas. H. Chadbourn, Jr., 
William Calder, William Gilchrist, Gabriel Holmes, C. W. Yates, George R. 
French, Hugh MacRae, J. G. L. Geischen, Chas. E. Borden. 



KIDDER'S SAW MILL. 



This establishment is the oldest, and perhaps the most extensive of its kind 
in Wilmington. It was owned first about the year 1834 by Captain Gilbert 
Potter, who operated it successfully under his own name, and who subse- 
quently took in partnership his son-in-law, the late Mr. Edward Kidder 

The firm of Potter & Kidder was succeeded by Kidder & Martin, and after 
many years the name was changed to that of Edward Kidder & Sons. For 
more than half a century it was guided and controlled by the late Mr. Edward 
Kidder, honored and respected as one of Wilmington's foremost public- 
spirited citizens, the father of the present proprietor, Mr. George Wilson 
Kidder. 

The present firm, Edward Kidder's Son, sustains the high reputation of 
its past history and controls a large trade with the West Indies. 



WILMINGTON STEAM LAUNDRY. 



Is owned and operated by Harper & Pennington, fully equipped with all 
modern appliances for cleansing wearing apparel, and other cotton, silk or 
woollen fabrics in the most approved manner at moderate charges. This 
establishment illustrates the Darwinian theory "the survival of the fittest" 
inasmuch as it outlived all competitors and secured the confidence of the 
public. A glance at their methods and neatly attired employees gives assur- 
ance of accuracy, carefulness, neatness and despatch. 



LIV 

S. & W. H. NORTHROP. 

The business of this firm was established many years ago by Isaac 
Northrop, now deceased, father of the present proprietors. These gentlemen, 
who were brought up in the lumber business, have a large experience in this 
trade and have successfully conducted it for a period of many years. 

Their mill, drying kilns and yards are conveniently situated oil the rivef 
in the Southern part of the city, and everything connected with their plant is 
thoroughly equipped with the latest improved methods, to save expense and 
expedite business. 

They are large exporters of all kinds of lumber. 

Both members of this firm take an active part in everything that pertaihS 
to the lumber interest of Wilmington and the material development of the 
city. 



CAROLINA COOPERAGE AND VENEER CO. 



This Company was organized June i, I8g4, for the purpose of matiufac^ 
turing oil, spirits of turpentine and syrup barrels, also crates, baskets and all 
the various packages for truckers. All these goods are manufactured from 
North Carolina timber and are superior in make and finish to any imported 
stock. In the manufacture of barrels they have patented machinery of a 
capacity of a barrel per minute. Their extensive plant, which occupies a 
whole block, located between the Atlantic Coast Line and the Seaboard Ait 
Line depots, is complete in all its details. R. M. Nimocks, of Fayetteville, 
is President, and E. M . Wells is Manager, 



W. F. KETCHUM, 

Manufacturer and dealer in buggies, wagons, carts, drays, etc., at Cornef 
Second and Princess streets, solicits orders, guaranteeing excellent work and" 
satisfactory prices. 



LV 

CALIFORNIA FRUIT TRANSPORTATION CO. 



Some ten years ago the California Fruit Transportation Company began 
its career with fifty-five of their celebrated cars, carrying fruit and vegeta- 
bles from Mississippi, Tennessee and Southern Illinois lo Chicago for F. A. 
Thomas & Son, and were operated by Messrs. Thomas & Son, 

The usefulness and great success of these cars made it apparent that the 
new field just then opening in California demanded such facilities, and to 
market its fruits successfully in Eastern markets, 200 cars were built and 
put into the service. From that time the demand has so increased that the 
Company has now 1,000 cars in service, transporting fruits from and to all 
sections of the United States. 

In 1892 there was a demand for California fruits across the water, and 
the Company, ever alive to the fruit industries, made arrangements to 
carry California fruits to Liverpool, England, using and fitting up the 
White Star Line steamers Majestic and Teutonic. Liverpool, however' 
not proving a desirable market, the Company turned its attention to 
London, and arranged to put California fruits into that city in fourteen 
days. Bjr the use of special export trains across the Continent, transfer- 
ring at New York into the magnificent steamers, of the American Line, 
Paris, New York, St. Louis and St. Paul, carrying the fruit in cold storage 
and delivering into the London market in perfect condition, the fruit has 
always sold for good prices. 

In this section of North Carolina the California Fruit Transportation 
Company is building up an industry whic^i is assuming immense propor- 
tions. During the year 1892 this Company moved from Wilmington and 
intermediate stations to Goldsboro, on the line of the Wilmington and 
Weldon Railroad, to Northern and Eastern markets, 43 cars with 7,465 
crates, of 32 quarts each, or 238,880 quarts of strawberries. This year 
(1896) they have moved 290 cars from this section with 81,000 crates, or 
2,602,000 quarts, of berries and 1,300 packages of vegetables. 

The vegetable and strawberry business is on the increase, not only in this 



LVI 

section, but in all parts of the Southern States, and it is through the energy 
of A. S. Maynard, Southern Agent, andhisable assistant, C. W. Woodward, 
backed by their Company through its General Manager. H. A. Thomas, 
that, with a good refrigerator service, this Line has been able to accomplish 
these good results and give such general satisfaction to the growers. 

The officers of the California Fruit Transportation Company are: F. A. 
Thomas, President; E. R. Hutchins, Vice-President; H. A. Thomas, 
General Manager, and W. H. Hubbard. Secretary and Treasurer. The 
general offices are located at No. 904, "The Rookery Building, Chicago, 
Illinois. 

Mr. H. A. Thomas, the General Manager, is a gentleman of pronounced 
ability, who has successfully operated this Line from the beginning and 
established a business of so large proportions. He i? always actively 
engaged in working for the material advancement of shippers of fruits and 
vegetables. 

Mr. A. S. Maynard, the Southern Agent, is a leading spirit in Trans- 
portation circles, ever on the alert, polite and considerate to all, and ever, 
alive to the development of his Company and the progress of its patrons. 

Mr. Charles Worth Woodward, Assistant Southern Agent, has ail his life 
been engaged in the ice business, and having had the experience so neces- 
sary to a full realization of the importance of proper refrigeration, is an 
acquisition to the corps of able officials. He is becoming one 0I the prime 
factors in the growth and prosperity of the California Fruit Transportation 
Compan3^ 



S. L. ALDERMAN, 



The photographer, has his gallery at No. 119-^ Market Street. His work 
is executed in the best style, and he carries in stock, for sale, views of 
Wilmington and vicinity. He invites all lovers of art and those desiring 
photographs to call at his gallery. 



LVII 

J. H. BOATWRIGHT & SON, 

Insurance Agents, represent fire, life, boiler, accident, bond and liability 
insurance. Their office is at No. 124 North Water Street. Telephone 
No. 73. 



R. F HAMME, 



More familarly known as " Hamme the Hatter," can be found at his old 
stand, No. 26 North Front Street. For seasonable and fashionable hats 
he excels. 



GEORGE DARDEN, 



Watchmaker and Jeweler, Front Street, deals in watches, clocks and 
jewelry. He makes a specialty of repairing fine complicated watches, 
clocks and jewelry, and re-setting precious stones, and gold and silver 
hand soldering. Mr. Darden is chief inspector of watches for the Wil- 
mington, Newbern & Norfolk Railway, and division inspector for the Sea-^ 
board Air Line. 



SOUTHERLAND & COWAN, 



Proprietors of the large livery and sales stables, located at 108 and no 
North Second Street, between Princess and Chestnut, are prepared to give 
prompt attention to all calls day or night. They have first-class equipages 
and polite drivers. Special attention given to boarding horses— box 
stalls, and careful grooming for trotting horses. Hacks and baggage line 
to all trains going and coming. These gentlemen have on hand everything 
in the harness and horse-dressing line. Their telephone is No. 15. 



LVIII 

H. C. PREMPERT'S SONS. 



Messrs. Arthur and Al. G. Prempert comprising the firm, are practical 
barbers and hair-cutters. Their work is done in the latest and most approved^ 
styles. They can be found at No it South Front Street. 



SOL. BEAR, 

(Established 1853.) 



Long and favorably known to the trade, has his extensive establishment 
on Market, between Front and Water Streets. He offers at wholesale dry 
goods. Retail, carpets, oil cloth, mattings, house-furnishing goods, etc. 



D. McEACHERN. 



Mr. Duncan McEachern has a good name to start with; he comes of that 
sturdy race of Scotch ancestors who settled on the Upper Cape Fear, and 
who brought with them strong arms, honest hearts and the principles of an 
abiding faith in God, which govern these faithful people. Mr. McEachern 
haa an extensive up country business, originally built up by Woody & Currie,. 
whom he succeeded. He is a factor and general commission merchant,, 
attentive to his business, and thoroughly reliable in every respect. 



P. HEINSBERGER, Jr., 



Book-seller and Stationer, also dealer in fine pictures, fancy goods, wed- 
ding presents, dolls, toys. All kinds of musical instruments, base-ball 
goods and hammocks, and agent for Williams' Typewriter. He can be 
found at 107 Market Street. 



LIX 

H. E. BONITZ, 



Architect and Superintendent, has his ofhce at 129 Market Street. He 
has displayed untiring energy and superior talent, and is gaining quite a 
reputation for artistic work and faithful execution of work entrusted to him. 



DIVINE & CHADBOURN. 



These progressive young merchants occupy the store formerly "Daggett's 
Old Stand," No. 23 Market street. They carry a full line of paints, oils, 
glass, sash, doors and blinds. Machinery and burning oils, copper paints 
and paints for exposure to salt atmosphere a specialty. They deal in the 
best and are fast gaining a large local business, as well as an extensive 
out-of-town trade. 



JAMES D. DRY, 



Proprietor of the Steam Cleaning and Dyeing Establishment, No. 16 
North Second street. He is prepared to do a superior quality of dyeing on 
ladies' dresses and gentlemen's suits. Surah silks and kid gloves. Dry 
cleaning and fine dyeing given prompt and careful attention. 



RICHARDS & KING, 

Photo-Engravers and Designers, are ready to execute promptly and 
reasonably all commissions in their line of work. The illustrations and 
designs of this book have been prepared by them and testify to their 
capabilities. 

Both of the partners are alert, industrious, thrifty and courteous, and 
business entrusted to them will alwa s receive prompt and careful attention. 



LX 

H. A. TUCKER & BRO. 



Owners of Granite and Marble Works, at 310 North Front Street, are 
prepared to furnish designs on application and promptly execute, in the 
best workmanship, all orders entrusted to them. 



M. P. TAYLOR, Jr., & CO., 



Proprietors of the Bicycle Parlors, corner Second and Market streets, 
keep on hand the following Wheels : The Solid Sterling — built like a 
watch; Tribune — a gentleman's mount; Monarch — king of bicycles; 
Dayton — a w^heel of beauty; Eclipse — the strong wheel ; Marvel, Defiance, 
Apollo, at prices ranging from $35 to |ioo. All kinds of repairing, enam- 
eling and vulcanizing. New wheels to rent exclusively to the white trade. 
They also deal in Electric Fans. 



R. H. GRANT, 



Plumber and Gas Fitter, No. 119 North Front street. Sanitary plumbing 
a specialty. Full stock of plumbing and gas fitting on hand. Bath-tubs, 
ranges, globes, h )se, slate mantels, grates and stoves. Hot water, steam- 
heating and tin-roofing. 



A D. BROWN, 



Successor to Brown & Roddick, has been established in business in this 
city for over a quarter of a century. He is located in a well-arranged 
building (No. 29 North Front street), adapted to the requirements of his 
trade, which is known as the Dry Goods and Carpet House of Wilmington. 



LXI 

J. HICKS BUNTING, 



The Druggist, can be found in the Young Men's Christian Association 
Building, on North Front, between Grace and Walnut streets. He carries 
a full line of drugs, etc., and gives prompt and careful attention to filling 
prescriptions. 



THE REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT COMPANY OF 
WILMINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA, 



Has a paid-up capital of $75,000. It owns and has fully paid for 80,000 
acres of land in Hyde and Tyrrell counties, including the celebrated tract 
known as 

Hyde Park, 

which Prof. Holmes, the State Geologist, who personally surveyed it, says 
is "very valuable for agricultural purposes, unequaled as a cattle range, 
unexcelled as a game preserve, as many as 26 deer having been started in 
a single day. The standing and buried timber is also of great value." 

The Company also hold options on all State lands and invites correspond- 
ence of persons seeking investments. Thomas W. Strange President, 
William H. Sprunt Secretary and Treasurer. 



W. N. CRONLY, 

Notary Public, Wilmington, N. C, by Appointment 
of His Excellency Governor Car, 

May be seen in all business hours at the Office of Alexander Sprunt and 
Son, prepared to attest contracts or any other legal writings within the 
purview of his commission. 



LXII 







Steam Tug Marion. 



THE DIAMOND STEAMBOAT AND WRECKING 

COMPANY. 



The Diamond Steamboat and Wrecking Company was incorporated 
several years ago, supplying a want the requirement of which had been 
very seriously felt by the commercial interests of the port of Wilmington. 
This Company own the splendid tug "Marion," two powerful hoisters, 
pile-divers, diving apparatus and all the appliances necessary for towing 
loading and unloading vessels, building wharves, executing operations 
under the surface of the water, and, in fact, are thoroughly equipped to do 
all kinds of work that the name of the Company indicates. Captain Edgar 
D. Williams is Manager. 



In Diversity of Products, 

In Healthfulness, 

In Mildness and Equability of Climate, 

In Nearness to Markets, 

In Schools, Churches, and Other Needs of an 

Advanced Civilization, and 
In All That Goes to Make Life Worth Living, 

THE TERRITORY OF THE 



Atlantic 



* ^ * 



Coast Line 



IS PREEMINENT. 



Here are some of 
the Staple Crops of 
the different sections 
of this area : 



Wheat, 


Tobacco, 


Corn, 


Cotton, 


Oats, 


Peanuts, 


And 


Hay, 


Other 


Rice, 


Grains, 


Potatoes 



N 

All Vegetables 

and Small Fruits, 

Peaches, Pears, 

Grapes, Figs, 

And 

Other Fruits, 

The policy of the Atlantic Coast Line is to foster all developments along 
its line. IT IS THE GREATEST TRUCKING ROAD IN AMERICA, 
and it provides every facility for getting farm, garden and orchard pro- 
ducts to the Northern markets in best possible condition, in shortest time 
and at lowest rates. 

In no part of the country is there a greater abundance of game 
and fish than in the eastern counties of North and South Carolina. 

NORTHERN FARMERS ARE INVITED to write for information in 
detail about the territory of the Atlantic Coast Line, which extends from 
RICHMOND AND NORFOLK TO COLUMBIA AND CHARLESTON. 

T. M. E.ME.RSON, H. M. EMERSON, 

Traffic Manager. Ass't Gen'l Freight Agent. 



